When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. November 5, 1733 – The New York Weekly Journal became the first newspaper regularly published in North America. One year later, John Peter Zenger, its printer and publisher was …
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Early American settlers enjoyed fortifying their drinks. Stone fences mix hard cider and rum, shrubs mix wine with switchel, rattleskulls mix rum with beer, and the coo woo even fortifies brandy with rum. Rum, whiskey, and other spirits were staple goods produced to help farmers ship bulky products like corn and sugar to distant markets. …
In 1499 the Spanish sent an expedition to the Caribbean island of Curaçao in an attempt to cultivate Seville oranges. Oranges were vital to naval operations in the region as they were used to fight scurvy. The Seville oranges, however, struggled under the island’s harsh equatorial sun, arid climate, and infertile soil eventually evolving into a small, bitter, …
Hot spiced wine has been offered to messengers and postmen in Norway who travelled on horseback or skis in cold weather since at least the 16th century. Glögg is a common winter drink consisting of sweet wine or grape juice mixed with syrup and some harder spirits like rum, brandy or cognac. Glögg begins by …
The Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britian in July 1776 but George Washington was not inaugurated as President until April 30, 1789 (13 years later). During the Revolutionary War (1774 – 1783) the states acted largely as independent nations and the only real role that he Continential Congress had was the prosecution of the …
The word “wassail” appears as early as the 8th century in the poem Beowulf. Originally, it was used as salutatory gesture (wassail!) from Old Norse ves heill “be healthy.” By the 12th Century, Wassail was used as a drinking salutation, similar to the use of “Cheers” or “Probst” today, and his use seems to have …
Okay, I don’t give away bottles but you may have noticed that every bottle and every keg have a QR code on it and its not a SKU because I am not selling beer outside of events and I am not that sophisticated in my inventory management. So, what are these? Well, brewing beer is, …
Continue reading “Hey Brewmeister, why are there all those QR codes on your bottles and kegs?”
“Coow woow” was an Indian term for rum, and this makes sense since most of the drink is rum. The history of the Coow Woow is a bit murky but the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA claims it dates back to the early days of 1664 making it one of if not the first cocktail …
If you were traveling through Colonial New England, chances are the drink of choice is Rum Flip, which is quite a treat to see prepared with vigorous mixing and a final heating using a long metal rod known as a loggerhead or in the south a mulling iron. Flip was a common hot cocktail made …
Early American settlers enjoyed fortifying their drinks. Stone fences mix hard cider and rum, shrubs mix wine with switchel, rattleskulls mix rum with beer, and the coo woo even fortifies brandy with rum. Rum, whiskey, and other spirits were staple goods produced to help farmers ship bulky products like corn and sugar to distant markets. …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 