Empire of Booze: British History Through the Bottom of a Glass

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Henry Jeffreys is everything you want a wine writer to be: funny, knowing, unpretentious but also un-blokeish, funny, clever, refreshing, original, funny and inquisitive. And did I say funny?” – Craig Brown, author and parodist Britain, champagne would have been flat and sweet. Port? Well, the names on the bottles are a clue: Taylor’s, Churchill’s, Smith Woodhouse. We went on to are faring today and will include recommendations so you can drink your way through the book. Britain’s legacy has been much argued over. The lasting gifts

I suppose I would have liked to read more about booze in America. This is often touched on, but we don't get an entire chapter on it like we do, for example, with Australia. On the other hand, perhaps Australia fits better into a single chapter while America would have required a second volume? No offense to the Aussies. There is plenty of booze history left out, even as it relates to the English empire, which is the focus of the book, but what is included is good. Britain, none of our favourite wines would exist. What chauvinistic nonsense, my colleagues said. And then we started naming drinks and trying to find the I am a great admirer of Henry Jeffreys and have been eagerly awaiting his booze and empire book for many years!" – Elif Batuman, author, academic and journalist.Through the medium of drink, we can chart the rise of British power from a small corner of Europe to global pre-eminence. British culture, literature, Charming . . . Never mind books about drink – a book you can drink, now that’s a Christmas gift. Spectator

I’d love to say it was a bottle of Chateau Palmer 61 drunk with my grandfather but I didn’t have that sort of upbringing. My parents drank wine but I never particularly liked the sort of hard earthy wine my father bought. In retrospect it was probably quite good Bordeaux. I much preferred going to the pub and drinking beer with my father. How did this small archipelago exert such influence on drinks? Like most cold countries, we have a fondness for alcohol. The Russians have vodka, the choice for weary empire builders far from home. Is it any wonder that one of the world’s bestselling whiskies, Cutty Sark, is named after that 19 th century symbol of globalisation, the clipper ship? As the dominant power at this time, it was Britain that created the first global drinks. Breezy read on the history of the British Empire as it interacted with and influenced the production and distribution of alcoholic drinks. Jeffreys' main point is that, though most spirits/wines are not produced in Britain, over the last centuries they have been produced mainly FOR the UK market, and thus English tastes have been hugely influential in determining what wine, whiskey, port, rum, champagne, gin, sherry, madeira, and beer taste and look like today. will be a loose history of Britain told through booze. Each chapter will focus on a drink and a period, but it will also look at how these classic drinksWinner of the Fortnum and Mason Best Debut Drink Book Award 2017 From renowned booze correspondent Henry Jeffreys comes this rich and full-bodied history of Britain and the Empire, told through the improbable but true stories of how the world’s favourite alcoholic drinks came to be. Read about how we owe the champagne we drink today to seventeenth-century methods for making sparkling cider; how madeira and India Pale Ale became legendary for their ability to withstand the long, hot journeys to Britain’s burgeoning overseas territories; and why whisky became the familiar choice for weary empire builders who longed for home. Jeffreys traces the impact of alcohol on British culture and society: literature, science, philosophy and even religion have reflections in the bottom of a glass. Filled to the brim with fascinating trivia and recommendations for how to enjoy these drinks today, you could even drink along as you read… So, raise your glass to the Empire of Booze! Empire of Booze by Henry Jeffreys – eBook Details The Bollinger was not like any Champagne I’d ever had before. It was a deep golden colour and the texture was like custard, sparkling custard, if you can imagine such a thing. The complexity was simply astonishing. We were fairly blasé about good Champagne but this made everyone stop and marvel. It turned me on to a mature, rich style of champagne which I wish I had the money to drink more often. From renowned booze correspondent Henry Jeffreys comes this rich and full-bodied history of Britain and the Empire, told through the improbable but true stories of how the world’s favourite alcoholic drinks came to be.

Winner of the 2017 Fortnum & Mason Debut Drink Book award, this is a fascinating take on British history told through the stories behind the world's favourite alcoholic drinks Jeffreys traces the impact of alcohol on British culture and society: literature, science, philosophy and even religion have reflections in the bottom of a glass. Filled to the brim with fascinating trivia and recommendations for how to enjoy these drinks today, you could even drink along as you read…strong drinks such as rum and India Pale Ale that could stand long hot journeys were developed. Whisky, an indigenous British drink, became the drink of