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Drinks from the 1600’s
It's almost time for Tales of the Cocktail 2009, and this year I'll be presenting two sessions. The first session is Drinks from the 1600's, a historical look at what, where and why people drank. Not many people have an idea of what people drank 400 years ago. Did they drink anything similar to a cocktail? What kinds of spirits were popular? Where did they drink, and what did those places look like? This session will give you an interesting and entertaining glimpse into the past. Anyone truly interested in drink history must attend.
To give attendee's an idea of what was happening in the 1600's, I have spent many hours browsing through art databases looking for any paintings, sketches, or pictures of objects from that time period. Many of the paintings included in the presentation offer some very interesting details into the history of drink. Some of them show that we haven't changed that much in the past 400 years either.
In addition to the visual aspect, I've combed through dozens of books from the 1600's, including the Distiller of London (1651) for recipes and information on what people consumed and why. Some of it is entertaining to read, others times it's just frightening. The 1600's was a unique period for drink.
Details
Friday, July 10, 2009 · 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Queen Anne Ballroom (Hotel Monteleone)
Sponsored by Benedictine and Pernod
9 Comments on Drinks from the 1600’s
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Personally, around 1600 I'm usually about ready for my first beer. I don't usually get it before 1830, though :(
tres cool subject for a session.
i was very happy when i discovered my holiday in new orleans coincides with the festival. since i am australian-based i couldn't believe my luck.
what are the chances!
Will it be taped/video'd for those not attending Tales of the Cocktail?
I wish I could go to this it sounds really interesting. I'm sure 400 years ago people only drank some forms of alcohol like wine and beer and the hard alcohols were a little bit different but I doubt they made fancy drinks like a dirty martini, they probably mixed things together to see what tasted good.
I was going to try to post something funny here, but then I saw that Tim F totally beat me to it. Not even trying to top that today. Hats off, Tim F.
I'm sure you've already been looking at the numerous "society for creative anachronism" (SCA) / renaissance fair / re-enactor websites - I've seen fairly encyclopedic research on mead recipes (for example).
There is a very famous cookbook from 1669- The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby which has recipes for mead, wine, beer, etc - its available on project gutenberg etc. for free. FWIW Wikipedia says Sir Kenelm is the father of the modern wine bottle!
Another interesting text, published around ~1700 The Country Housewife and Lady's Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a Farm has information on making beer, wine, mead and how to distill spirits.
The following is not the right time period, but an interesting source on more modern "pre-cocktail" European drinks. "Drinking with Dickens" has the recipes for many of the libations in the novels of Charles Dickens, b.1812, d.1870
Cocktails at 80
Thanks for the info. The Digby book is useful, but he seemed to have a thing for mead! The other books I'm using for the session are:
The Queens Closet (1659)
Distiller of London (1652)
Approved Directions for Health (1612)
The Accomplish'd Lady's Delight in Preserving (1670)
A Treatise on the Plague (1630)
Darcy,
Great meeting you in NO. This was one of the best sessions I went to. Amazing research!
Cheers
Jonas
Thanks Jonas. I'm getting some of the presentation posted shortly, so stay tuned. Cheers!