Gin

MotherOCOs Milk, MotherOCOs Ruin, and LadiesOCO Delight. Dutch Courage and CuckoldOCOs Comfort. These evocative nicknames for gin hint that it has a far livelier history than the simple and classic martini would lead you to believe. In this book, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson journeys into ginOCOs past, revealing that this spirit has played the role of both hero and villain throughout history.Taking us back to ginOCOs origins as a medicine derived from the aromatic juniper berry, Solmonson describes how the Dutch recognized the berryOCOs alcoholic possibilities and distilled it into the whiskey-like "genever." She then follows the drink to Britain, where cheap imitations laced with turpentine and other caustic fillers made it the drink of choice for poor eighteenth-century Londoners. Eventually replaced by the sweetened Old Tom style and later by London Dry gin, its popularity spread along with the British Empire. As people today once again embrace classic cocktails like the gimlet and the negroni, gin has reclaimed its place in the world of mixology. Featuring many enticing recipes, "Gin" is the perfect gift for cocktail aficionados and anyone who wants to know whether it should be shaken or stirred."