The common inky cap is normally an edible mushroom, except when consumed with alcohol. If someone ingests alcohol within several days of eating an inky cap, they will experience immediate alcohol poisoning. Chemicals in the mushroom prevent the body from digesting alcohol and create an immediate, prolonged hangover. Mixing mushroom and booze might not kill you, but it could ruin your day.
Tequila’s predecessor, pulque, has been around for thousands of years. The Aztecs developed a method for tapping agave plants for their sap. The people who performed this task were known as tlachiqueros and were experts in collecting and fermenting agave into an alcoholic drink. This industry still exists today, but has been hurt by the tequila industry and modernization.
The Columbian biological exchange transformed the living world. Just as sicknesses were passed between Europeans and indigenous Amerindians, the grape vines of the New World passed diseases to the Old World. These diseases, including powdery mildew, downy mildew, and phylloxera vastatrix, would decimate European vineyards and change the future of viticulture forever.
The monteith was a multifunctional piece that accompanied wine drinking. Its distinguishing purpose was to cool wine glasses which were rested in its bowl and held firm by their feet at its scalloped rim. The rim could be removed and the silver basin became a punch bowl. The basin could also be used as a rinse for communal wine glasses. Strangely enough, they were also used for baptism.
The religious exception to the Volstead Act allowed for Jewish and Catholic Americans to continue using wine in their ceremonies. This exemption was abused by thousands of Americans who took advantage of the fact that rabbis were not officially selected. Irishmen and others formed new Jewish congregations and became fake rabbis to get their hands on wine during Prohibition.
From the 1880s until 1913, Americans were buying alcohol in the mail in states where the sale of alcohol was prohibited. Liquor dealers advertised in newspapers or sent around circulars advertising their wares. They shipped the out-of-state hooch on the rails. Students and others were recruited to work for commissions of 50¢ per gallon and $1.50 per case when they delivered the alcohol.
While New Englanders relied on their infamous cold to strengthen their applejack, the neighboring Mid Atlantic states, particularly New York and New Jersey, were famous for their distilled applejack. Unlike New England’s frozen drink which was homemade and home-consumed, New Yorkers made big business with their apple brandy. A 1903 newspaper reported that Orange County, New York paid more in excise tax on distilled fruit than any other state in the Union.
Hemlock contains Coniine, Methyl-coniine, and Succus conii. The toxins block signals in the nervous system which lead to the cessation of breathing and consequently suffocation. The poison will also lead to salivation, twitching, pupil dilation, and an increased heart rate which eventually decreases to, you guessed it, 0 beats per minute. No one in Ancient Greece had a chance against such a poison, very few have a chance today.
Tea, and eventually coffee, dominated the palate of American bibulous life and yaupon, quite frankly, was never in favor for Europeans or their descendants. The poor who lived in yaupon-growing regions were the only Europeans (and Africans as slaves were brought over and discovered the stimulating drink) to regularly consume the drink. For this reason, America has only ever acknowledged that it has tea literally growing in its back yard during times of caffeine scarcity.
The term proof has British origins dating back to the 1500s when alcohol was tested for tax purposes. Strong spirits were levied with an excise tax. To decide which spirits were taxed as strong, the tax man performed a sort of experiment. Booze was poured on a bullet and if it still ignited, then that was proof of the strength of the alcohol.
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