A 2002 book subtitled The Much Lamented Death of Madam Geneva is a detailed account of the craze for what libation that overtook 18th century England?
"Gin Craze The Gin Craze was a period in the first half of the 18th century when the consumption of gin increased rapidly in Great Britain, especially in London. Daniel Defoe commented: ""the Distillers have found out a way to hit the palate of the Poor, by their new fashion'd compound Waters called Geneva, so that the common People seem not to value the French-brandy as usual, and even not to desire it"". Many people overconsumed and the city had an epidemic of extreme drunkenness; this provoked moral outrage and a legislative backlash that some compare to the modern drug"
"wars. Parliament passed five major Acts, in 1729, 1736, 1743, 1747 and 1751, designed to control the consumption of gin. Though many similar drinks were available and alcohol consumption was considerable at all levels of society, gin caused the greatest public concern. Although it is commonly thought gin or Jenever was the singular drink, ""gin"" was a blanket statement for all grain-based alcohols at the time. Gin was popularised in England following the accession of William of Orange in 1688. Gin provided an alternative to French brandy at a time of both political and religious conflict between Britain and France."
"and royalty including Queen Victoria. His 1846 book ""The Modern Cook"" ran through 29 editions by 1896, popularising an elaborate cuisine described throughout with French terminology, and offering bills of fare for up to 300 people. Three of the major hot drinks popular in England, tea, coffee, and chocolate, originated from outside Europe and were already staple items by Victorian times. Catherine of Braganza brought the Portuguese habit of tea to England around 1660. Initially, its expense restricted it to wealthy consumers, but the price gradually dropped, until by the 19th century its use was widespread. Introduced in the 16th"
"rival beer as the most popular drink in England. In 1689, the English government opened the distilling trade to all English people who paid certain taxes. Over the next sixty years, however, the government regulated the sale of gin with an inconsistent taxation policy. The ready availability and low cost of gin led to the a massive rise in consumption known as the Gin Craze; by the 1730s, consumption in London had risen to the equivalent of 2 pints per week per Londoner. Politicians and religious leaders argued that gin drinking encouraged laziness and criminal behaviour. In 1729, Parliament passed"
"business, but became institutions of the legal profession in England and Wales. The 18th century saw a huge growth in the number of drinking establishments, primarily due to the introduction of gin. Brought to England by the Dutch after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, gin became very popular after the government created a market for ""cuckoo grain"" or ""cuckoo malt"" (grain that was unfit to be used in brewing and distilling) by allowing unlicensed gin and beer production while imposing a heavy duty on all imported spirits. As thousands of gin-shops sprang up all over England, brewers fought back by"
"an upsurge in interest in both gin and vodka. The south of England has seen the reintroduction of vineyards making English wine. Lemon barley water, invented by Matthias Archibald Robinson in 1823, is made by pouring pearl barley water over the rind and/or pulp of a lemon and adding sugar to taste. The Wimbledon tennis championships are associated with this drink. English folklore developed over many centuries. Some of the characters and stories are present all over England, but most belong to specific regions. Common folkloric beings include pixies, giants, elves, bogeymen, trolls, goblins and dwarves. While many legends and"
"of the large breweries. One of the motivations of the Act was to reduce the abusive over-consumption of gin. Demand for the export style of pale ale, which had become known as ""India Pale Ale,"" developed in England around 1840 and India Pale Ale became a popular product in England. Some brewers dropped the term ""India"" in the late 19th century, but records indicated that these ""pale ales"" retained the features of earlier IPA. A pale and well hopped style of beer was developed in Burton-on-Trent in parallel with the development of India Pale Ale elsewhere. Previously, Englishmen had drunk"
"bottles by supermarkets and off licences (off-trade) than in pubs (on-trade). Marston's Brewery and Greene King are the two largest brewers of premium cask and bottled beers, having grown by acquisition. Shepherd Neame Brewery is the largest family-owned brewery. Gin has been popular in England since the late 17th century and is mixed with tonic water, ice and a slice of lemon. Pimm's No. 1 Cup, a gin-based drink containing a mixture of herbs and liquors, is used to make punch for summer social events. The rise of micro-distilleries in England at the start of the 21st century led to"
"a ""Gin Craze"" in the Kingdom of Great Britain. The bourgeoisie became increasingly critical of the widespread drunkenness among the lower classes. Motivated by the bourgeoisie's desire for order, and amplified by the population growth in the cities, the drinking of gin became the subject of critical national debate. In the early nineteenth-century United States, alcohol was still regarded as a necessary part of the American diet for both practical and social reasons. On the one hand, water supplies were often polluted, milk was not always available, and coffee and tea was expensive. On the other hand, social construct of"
"Gin Gin is liquor which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries (""Juniperus communis""). Gin is one of the broadest categories of spirits, all of various origins, styles, and flavour profiles that revolve around juniper as a common ingredient. From its earliest origins in the Middle Ages, the drink has evolved from a herbal medicine to an object of commerce in the spirits industry. Gin was developed based on the older Dutch liquor, jenever, and became popular in Great Britain (particularly in London) when William of Orange became King William III of England. The earliest known written reference to genever"
"prohibiting the sale of gin in quantities of less than two gallons and raising the tax on it dramatically. However, the peak in consumption was reached seven years later, when the nation of six and one-half million people drank over 18 million gallons of gin. And most was consumed by the small minority of the population then living in London and other cities; people in the countryside largely consumed beer, ale and cider. After its peak, gin consumption rapidly declined. From eighteen million gallons in 1743, it dropped to just over seven million gallons in 1751 and to less than"
"was sold by purl-men from purl-boats on the Thames who were licensed by the Watermen's Hall. The drink ceased to be popular by the end of the 19th century, being replaced by beer, especially the variety known to the English as bitter. Purl-royal was a similar concoction made using wine in place of ale or beer. The English took the drink with them to North America and a purl house was opened in New York, where rich punches and possets were popular. Shakespeare mentions purl in his play, ""The Merry Wives of Windsor"". Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary entry"
"social and religious obligation to give something or to answer a plea. Among the principal causes for the dangers of the streets of London, Moreton lists the abuse of alcohol specifically geneva or gin. In the Gin Era of 1720–50 very cheap liquors were sold indiscriminately, often resulting in a debauch of spirit-drinking, whose effects were seen on the streets, in the workhouses, in the growing misery of the poor and in an increase of criminality and violent acts. Moreton argues that this wicked trade will be the doom of the English nation, and it represents a real threat to"
"which the term ""Dutch courage"" is believed to have originated. According to some unconfirmed accounts Gin originated in Italy. By the mid-17th century, numerous small Dutch and Flemish distillers had popularized the re-distillation of malt spirit or malt wine with juniper, anise, caraway, coriander, etc., which were sold in pharmacies and used to treat such medical problems as kidney ailments, lumbago, stomach ailments, gallstones, and gout. Gin emerged in England in varying forms by the early 17th century, and at the time of the Restoration, enjoyed a brief resurgence. Gin became vastly more popular as an alternative to brandy, when"
"Cedric Charles Dickens (great-grandson of Charles Dickens) records in ""Drinking With Dickens"" that a 'Burnt Pink Gin' consists of 1 tsp Angostura burnt by heating over a flame and then poured into ""a large tot dry gin"". Pink Gin Pink Gin or Pink Plymouth is a cocktail made fashionable in England in the mid-19th century, consisting of Plymouth gin and a dash of Angostura bitters, a dark red bitters that makes the whole drink pinkish. Lemon rind is also commonly used as a garnish, with the citrus oils subtly complementing the flavour. Pink gin is widely thought to have been"
"various ailments, including ""chronic alcoholic inebriety."" Its popularity declined when it was purported to treat venereal disease and so drinking it in public became shameful. Saloop stalls in London were replaced by coffee stalls. Saloop Saloop was a hot drink which was popular in England in the 18th and 19th century. Initially, it was made from salep — a flour made from orchid roots which thickened the drink — which mostly originated in Smyrna. Later, the roots and leaves of the North American sassafras tree were the key ingredient. This plant thickened the drink and also had a stimulating quality."
"likely first thought of as medicinal elixirs. Liquor consumption rose dramatically in Europe in and after the mid-14th century, when distilled liquors were commonly used as remedies for the Black Death. Around 1400, methods to distill spirits from wheat, barley, and rye beers, a cheaper option than grapes, were discovered. Thus began the ""national"" drinks of Europe: ""jenever"" (Belgium and the Netherlands), gin (England), ""Schnaps"" (Germany), ""grappa"" (Italy), ""borovička"" (Slovakia), ""horilka"" (Ukraine), ""akvavit""/""snaps"" (Scandinavia), ""vodka"" (Poland and Russia), ""ouzo"" (Greece), ""rakia"" (the Balkans), and ""poitín"" (Ireland). The actual names emerged only in the 16th century, but the drinks were well"
"William III, II & I and Mary II became co-sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland after leading the Glorious Revolution. Particularly in crude, inferior forms, where it was more likely to be flavoured with turpentine. Gin drinking in England rose significantly after the government allowed unlicensed gin production, and at the same time imposed a heavy duty on all imported spirits such as French brandy. This created a larger market for poor-quality barley that was unfit for brewing beer, and in 1695–1735 thousands of gin-shops sprang up throughout England, a period known as the Gin Craze. Because of the low"
"and 16th centuries. It is from this origin that cordials are frequently referred to in French as ""Liqueurs d'ltalie"", it is also from this that we have liqueurs. From the Renaissance onwards, cordials were usually based on alcohol in which certain herbs, spices or other ingredients were allowed to steep. The first cordials arrived in England in the late 15th century and were called distilled cordial waters. These were strictly used as alcoholic medicines, prescribed in small doses to invigorate and revitalise the heart, body and spirit as well as cure diseases. By the 18th century cordials were being imbibed"
"the widespread drinking of rum, which was made in stills with a lead component (the ""worm""). It was a significant cause of mortality amongst slaves and sailors in the colonial West Indies. Lead poisoning from rum was also noted in Boston. Benjamin Franklin suspected lead to be a risk in 1786. Also in the 18th century, ""Devonshire colic"" was the name given to the symptoms suffered by people of Devon who drank cider made in presses that were lined with lead. Lead was added to cheap wine illegally in the 18th and early 19th centuries as a sweetener. The composer"
"fatte, and doth inflate the bely, as it doth appere by the doche mennes faces and belyes. A survey in 1577 of drinking establishment in England and Wales for taxation purposes recorded 14,202 alehouses, 1,631 inns, and 329 taverns, representing one pub for every 187 people. The early 18th century saw the development of a popular new style of dark beer in London: Porter. Before 1700, London brewers sent out their beer very young and any aging was either performed by the publican or a dealer. Porter was the first beer to be aged at the brewery and despatched in"
"Trade in the 18th century. Molasses from the Caribbean and honey were staple sweeteners for all but the upper class well into the 19th century. Some of the finest rum distilleries were located in New England prior to Prohibition. Many herbs were uncommon, particularly Mediterranean herbs, which are not hardy in much of New England away from the coast. As a result, most savory New England dishes do not have much strong seasoning, aside from salt and ground black pepper, nor are there many particularly spicy staple items. Other dishes meant as desserts often contain ingredients such as nutmeg, cinnamon,"
"Beer in England Beer in England has been brewed for hundreds of years. As a beer brewing country, England is known for its top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation. English beer styles include bitter, mild, brown ale and old ale. Stout, porter and India Pale Ale were also originally brewed in London. Lager style beer has increased considerably in popularity since the mid 20th century. Other modern developments include consolidation of large brewers into multinational corporations; growth"
"just ten in the previous decade. Carbonated lemonade was widely available in British refreshment stalls in 1833, and in 1845 R. White's Lemonade went on sale in the UK. For the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, Schweppes was designated the official drink supplier and sold over a million bottles of lemonade, ginger beer, Seltzer water and soda-water. There was a Schweppes soda water fountain, situated directly at the entrance to the exhibition. Mixer drinks became popular in the second half of the century. Tonic water was originally quinine added to water as a prophylactic against malaria and was consumed"
"beverage termed ""ginger beer"". Brewed ginger beer originated in Yorkshire in England in the mid-18th century and became popular throughout Britain, the United States, Ireland, South Africa and Canada, reaching a peak of popularity in the early 20th century. Brewed ginger beer was brought to the United States of the Ionian Islands by the British Army in the 19th century, and is still made as a local specialty known as ""tsitsibíra"" (τσιτσιμπίρα) by villagers in rural Corfu. Brewed ginger beer originated in the UK, but is sold worldwide. Crabbie's is a popular brand in the UK. It is usually labelled"
"each with a geographic monopoly, which provided inadequate quantities of water which was often contaminated, as was famously discovered by John Snow during the 1854 cholera epidemic. Population growth in London had been very rapid (more than doubling between 1800 and 1850) without an increase in infrastructure investment. Legislation in the mid nineteenth century gradually improved the situation. The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was formed, water filtration was made compulsory, and water intakes on the Thames were forced to be moved above the sewage outlets. In this environment the public drinking fountain movement began, initially in Liverpool where the local"
"called Extra Superior Porter and was only given the name Extra Stout in 1840. In 1802 John Feltham wrote a version of the history of porter that has been used as the basis for most writings on the topic. Very little of Feltham's story is backed up by contemporary evidence; his account is based on a letter written by Obadiah Poundage (who had worked for decades in the London brewing trade) in the 1760s. Feltham badly misinterpreted parts of the text, mainly due to his unfamiliarity with 18th-century brewing terminology. Feltham claimed that in 18th-century London a popular beverage called"
"Everyone drank ale—water was often too impure to drink. Fruits and vegetables were seldom eaten. Rich spices were used by the wealthy to offset the smells of old salted meat. Vegetables and fruits were not popular. The potato was not part of the diet. The rich enjoyed desserts such as pastries, tarts, cakes, and crystallized fruit, and syrup. Among the rich private hospitality was an important item in the budget. Entertaining a royal party for a few weeks could be ruinous to a nobleman. Inns existed for travellers but restaurants were not known. Both the rich and the poor had"
"have been explored in novels and films from Mary Shelley's 1826 ""The Last Man"" and Jack London's 1912 ""The Scarlet Plague"" onwards. Medieval writings that deal with plague include Giovanni Boccaccio's ""The Decameron"" and Geoffrey Chaucer's ""The Canterbury Tales"": both treat the people's fear of contagion and the resulting moral decline, as well as bodily death. The making of beer has been celebrated in verse since the time of Ancient Sumeria, c. 1800 BC, when the ""Hymn to Ninkasi"" was inscribed on a clay tablet. Ninkasi, tutelary goddess of beer, and daughter of the creator Enki and the ""queen of"
"musk or ambergris. In England, in 1723, there was a recipe for red hippocras containing milk and brandy. The drink was well liked during medieval and Elizabethan times. Moreover, doctors prescribed it to aid digestion. It was served at most banquets all over Europe. The drink was highly prized during the high and late Middle Ages. In France, it has been noted as the favorite drink of notorious baron Gilles de Rais, who reportedly drank several bottles every day and had his victims drink it prior to assault. Later, King Louis XIV of France was also known to enjoy it."
"was being served in the bar rooms of New York City and elsewhere. Identified as among 'the favorite drinks which are in demand everywhere' in an advertisement for the 1878 edition of ""The Modern Bartender's Guide"" by O. H. Byron, both Tom Collins gin and whiskey and Tom Collins brandy were considered fancy drinks. In the 1891 book, ""The Flowing Bowl: When and what to Drink,"" author William Schmidt listed the Tom Collins as including: <poem>Tom Collins Gin (1891) The juice of half a lemon in a large glass, a bar-spoonful of sugar, a drink of Tom gin; mix this"
"wine and suggests that British merchants were producing ""sparkling Champagne"" even before the French Champenois were deliberately making it. Concurrently, advances in glass manufacture in Britain, by George Ravenscroft and others, allowed more robust wine bottle to be made which could contain the effervescence without exploding. The popularity of sparkling Champagne steadily grew. In 1663, the British poet Samuel Butler penned the first written English reference to ""brisk"" (i.e. frothy) Champagne in his poem ""Hudibras"". The 1698 George Farquhar play ""Love and a Bottle"" featured one of the characters marveling at the steady stream of bubbles in a glass of"
"in popularity by the early 20th century. The invention and development of the column still (1826 and 1831) made the distillation of neutral spirits practical, thus enabling the creation of the ""London dry"" style that evolved later in the 19th century. In tropical British colonies gin was used to mask the bitter flavour of quinine, which was the only effective anti-malarial compound. Quinine was dissolved in carbonated water to form tonic water; the resulting cocktail is gin and tonic, although modern tonic water contains only a trace of quinine as a flavouring. Gin is a common base spirit for many"