Doctors and Distillers

May 9, 2022
Cocktail and beverage writer English makes a spirited debut with this vibrant cultural history of alcohol’s transition from medicine to social lubricant. Gin and tonic, a popular concoction consumed by British soldiers in the 1800s to stave off disease and illness, for instance, incorporated “lime for scurvy, the fizzy water for anemia and other conditions, the quinine for malaria, and the gin as a diuretic.” English also looks at the ways in which “beer, wine, and fizzy spa water inspired great progress in medical science”: 12th-century physician Moses Maimonides prescribed wine for mad-dog bites, while the plague was combated with special beers. English knows his stuff, but he also knows how to have a good time. Cocktail recipes provided throughout are cheekily positioned: after a discussion of the maladies suffered by absinthe addicts, including “seizures, dementia, vertigo, hallucinations, violent outbursts... and epilepsy,” English offers up an absinthe and champagne drink called Death in the Afternoon. Distillations made by monks (including the Carthusians with their Chartreuse liqueur) and aperitifs and digestifs also get their historical due. For the curious imbiber, or simply those looking for a few choice trivia tidbits to drop at cocktail parties (sadly, Saint Bernards never wore little barrels of brandy around their necks to revive those lost in the Alps), this is a winner.

December 1, 2022

Cocktail and spirits writer English's effervescent debut traces the history of alcohol and medicine, which were long considered one and the same. Post-pandemic, home cocktails are increasingly popular, as is DIY alcohol and a thirst for knowledge about health. While English is quick to point out that treatment is the domain of modern specialists and that many of the past's assumptions don't hold up today, it is fascinating to hear about how healing has evolved from antiquity to the present. English occasionally pokes fun at older ideas but never puts on a superior or condescending air. Listeners will enjoy discovering the medicinal origins of their booze of choice, though the focus is mostly on the Western world. Joanna Carpenter narrates with a calm interest, reminiscent of a skilled public lecturer. This makes for an enjoyable listen, particularly as the chapter topics are discrete enough to be taken in satisfying bites. Each chapter ends with a cocktail recipe, which could be useful if listeners are quick to bookmark. VERDICT This quirky history is both entertaining and informative; an ideal recommendation for anyone who enjoyed Amy Stewart's Drunken Botanist or Lydia Kang's Quackery.--Matthew Galloway

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