Gin: A Global History taught me tons about one of my favorite libations. The first truth is that gin in fact stems from an older drink, genever, that was closer in coloring and taste to a whiskey. “Gin” was a British distillation (pun not intended) of the original, and initially it was heavily sweetened to hide the impurities from the new kinds of stills being used to distill the beverage. Over time tastes grew more “dry”, although in America a new “cocktail” culture would take off. Such as the matutinal, or the morning drink. This of course evolved into the “three martini lunch”, eschewed by President Carter in his campaign. Fascinating stuff.

There’s a whole Edible series done by the same editor and I hope to read some more in the months to come. Thank goodness for the Interlibrary Loan System!

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