This week I was inspired by an article from those Libertarians at Reason Magazine. The story was about the Politics of Prohibition and it stated that contrary to popular conception that Prohibition was repealed because citizens and politicians realized that temperance and sobriety weren't in fact possible to achieve on a national level but rather the 18th Amendment was repealed because the government needed money.
"By 1920, the income tax supplied two-thirds of Uncle Sam's revenues and nine times more revenue than was then supplied by liquor taxes and customs duties combined. In research that I did with University of Michigan law professor Adam Pritchard, we found that bulging income-tax revenues made it possible for Congress finally to give in to the decades-old movement for alcohol prohibition....Prohibition appeared to be here to stay -- until income-tax revenues nose-dived in the early 1930s.From 1930 to 1931, income-tax revenues fell by 15 percent.
In 1932 they fell another 37 percent; 1932 income-tax revenues were 46 percent lower than just two years earlier. And by 1933 they were fully 60 percent lower than in 1930.
With no end of the Depression in sight, Washington got anxious for a substitute source of revenue.
That source was liquor sales."
So two lessons can be learned from this; if you want to get "The Man" to do anything you need to squeeze and strangle his life blood, or mess with his money, and more importantly, that booze saved America. What a noble substance.
Anyway in honor of this tidbit and me learning stuff here are a few Prohibition Era drinks that I found and selected because I liked their names. You can find more here. Or in this book.
White Lady
Sophisticated Prohibition Era Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp Gin
1 1/2 Tbsp Cointreau
1 1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Mix all ingredients and strain and pour into a Cocktail Glass.
Parisian
1920s Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp Gin
1 1/1 Tbsp Noilly Prat
Combine all ingredients with ice and shake. Strain into cocktail glass and add a couple of blackcurrents to the glass.
Pink Pussycat
Sweet and Saucy Gin Cocktail
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Gin
4 Tbsp Pineapple Juice
3 Tbsp Grapefruit Juice
2 Tsp Grenadine
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a tall glass. Garnish with a piece of grapefruit.
Bennett
1920s Short Drink
6 Tsp Gin
2 Tsp Lime Juice
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Cream Gin Fizz
1 1/2 oz Gin
1 1/2 oz milk
3 tsps sugar
4 tbsps lime juice
4 ice cubes
1/2 cup crushed ice
Seltzer
Combine all ingredients except crushed ice and seltzer into a cocktail shaker. Mix vigorously. Strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a slice of lime
Luigi
1920s Classic Cocktail
6 Tsp Gin
6 Tsp Dry Vermouth
1 Tsp Grenadine
Dash Cointreau
Juice of Half an Orange
Shake with ice and strain into a glass. Garnish with a segment of tangerine.
Horses Neck
1 Lemon
3 Tbsp Gin
Ginger Ale
Hang an entire lemon rind cut in a spiral shape, from the edge of the glass. Mix gin with ice and top with ginger ale.
Or if you want to really get in the spirit you can wear your Flapper costume and make your own moonshine. You can find quite a few here, or just google; you'll be amazed
Whiskey
INGREDIENTS:
10 lbs. Whole kernel corn, untreated
5 Gallons Water
1 Cup Yeast, champagne yeast starter
DIRECTIONS:
Put corn in a burlap bag and wet with warm water. Place bag in a warm dark
place and keep moist for about ten days. When the sprouts are about a 1/4" long
the corn is ready for the next step. Wash the corn in a tub of water, rubbing
the sprouts and roots off.. Throw the sprouts and roots away and transfer the
corn into your primary fermenter. With a pole or another hard object mash the
corn, make sure all kernels are cracked. Next add 5 gallons of boiling water
and when the mash cools add yeast. Seal fermenter and vent with a water sealed
vent. Fermentation will take 7-10 days. When fermentation is done, pour into
still filtering through a pillow case to remove all solids.
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