The Perfect Tonic
eBook - ePub

The Perfect Tonic

The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits and Cocktails

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Perfect Tonic

The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits and Cocktails

About this book

Shortlisted for the André Simon Food & Drink Book Award

An intoxicating interconnected history of booze and medicine, from one of the world's foremost cocktail writers.

Consider the Negroni. The bittersweet cocktail dating to the early 1900s is made of equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari. Gin takes its name and flavour from the juniper tree, which medieval doctors burned to ward off bubonic plague and other miasmas. 'Vermouth' comes from the German word for wormwood, a herb famous for its ability to rid the body of intestinal parasites. Campari is a brand of liqueur dating to 1860 with a secret recipe probably containing gentian (effective against indigestion) and rhubarb root (used as a laxative). The perfect cocktail of curative ingredients is now self-prescribed as an aperitif.

The intertwined stories of medicine and alcohol stretch back to the ancient world, and involve alchemy, madness and monks, not to mention microbiology, biochemistry and germ theory. Now, in The Perfect Tonic, Camper English reveals how and why the contents of our medicine and liquor cabinets were, until surprisingly recently, one and the same.

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Information

Publisher
William Collins
Year
2022
Print ISBN
9780008548308
eBook ISBN
9780008394585
Topic
Arte
Subtopic
Storia militare e marittima

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Praise for The Perfect Tonic
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Preface
  8. Disclaimer
  9. 1 | Fermentation: Greeks, Galen, and Guinness
  10. 2 | Quintessence: Alchemy and Aqua Vitae
  11. 3 | Monks: Monastic Liqueurs and the Middle Ages
  12. 4 | Science: Phlogiston, Pyrmont, Pasteur, and Pathogens
  13. 5 | Bittersweet: Aperitif, Absinthe, and Amaro
  14. 6 | Spirits: Grapes, Grain, Agave, and Cane
  15. 7 | Poison: Phosphates, Patent Medicines, Pure Food, and Prohibition
  16. 8 | Tonic: Malaria, Mosquitoes, and Mauve
  17. 9 | Mixology: Mixed Drinks and Modern Medicine
  18. Footnote
  19. Notes and Further Reading
  20. Bibliography
  21. Image Credits
  22. Index
  23. About This Book
  24. About This Author
  25. About the Publisher

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Yes, you can access The Perfect Tonic by Camper English in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Arte & Storia militare e marittima. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.