Period PiP Drinks

[hurricane]

As you know, The Catt & Fiddle is moving beachside. And in the spirit of the move there, we are working on this year's period drinks.

As you know, we make powerful good toddies - but to expedite and enhance your experiences this year, we have found a great new period device to use. Check it out!

As captain I have declared it period, right up there with Snickers. Ask Mickey and Kate about that fascinating history...

http://www.margaritavillecargo.com/Product.aspx?pid=6791

-- Hurricane

[Raphael Misson]

PC Margaritas? Que?

I didn't think rum (as we know it today) was even truly PC...

Wait, this is interesting.

"The community we now know as Tequila officially became a village in 1656. In the 1700s, mezcal wines became an important product for export because the town of Tequila lay on the route to the newly opened Pacific port of San Blas.

The first licensed manufacturer was a gentleman by the familiar name of José Antonio Cuervo. Sr. Cuervo received the rights to cultivate a parcel of land from the King of Spain in 1758, and the rest is history. However, tequila did not achieve its prominence until after 1821 when México attained independence, and Spanish products were more difficult to obtain.

By the middle of the 19th century Cuervo’s fields had more than three million agave plants. By 1880, Cuervo was annually selling 10,000 barrels of its tequila in Guadalajara alone. Today, Cuervo is the largest manufacturer of tequila, with a huge export market. Other distilleries established during the 19th-century that are still flourishing today include Tequila Herradura and La Preservancia Sauza."

[from http://www.loscabosguide.com/tequila/tequila-history.htm]

[hurricane]

You'll love how Snickers are PC mission - it's an amazing tale of intrigue, confectionery, kidnapping and patriotism... :) The center of the story is one Count deMars, a Frenchman on his mother's side who was abducted and held captive in Holland by the chocolate barons who wanted the secrets of making nougat, which was in short supply in Holland at the time, as it all had to be imported from France. But due to ongoing hostilities between the two warring countries -- well, you can imagine how that story pans out and give us the Snickers bars we know of today. I believe it all happened in 1715, unless I'm doing buccaneer, then the date was, uh, 1669.

On another note, rum was in use in Port Royal during the buccaneer era - it was vile stuff - the closest we can come is bottom shelf white rum, such as Ronrico. I use it to use the period rum punch it do for re-enactments - very popular stuff by the way.

Interesting about the history of tequila - thanks for digging that up.

-- Hurricane

[Raphael Misson]

Aha! Jessi's Mercury role should be...the Chocolate Baroness.

Not quite the same as your story, but some period chocolate refs. (We'd have a rare raven-haired Spaniard from the 18th c. in our crew.):

“[1705] The Cocoa-Tree is small, and the Nut or Kernel bigger than an Almond; and ripens in a great Husk, wherein are sometimes 30, nay 40 Cocoas. These Cocoas are made use of to make Chocolate: And as in England we go to the Tavern to drink a Glass of Wine, so they do here (upon this Coast of Mexico) as frequently go to their Markets to drink a Dish of Chocolate; And the Indians count it a very wholesom Drink. We were glad, whilst we were upon this Coast, to make three Meals a Day of it for near a Month. We would much rather, if we could, have fed upon Flesh; But however, living near a Month upon Chocolate, it made us very fat, and we found that it kept us very well in Health. Whether, if we had lived upon it much longer, it would have done us hurt, I know not; but I am apt

__

to believe it would have increased our Fat too fast, and so have made us unhealthy.” (William Funnell, A Voyage Round the World, p. 89-90)

“This Province [Guatemala] has many hot Springs, of several Natures. There is also good Balsam, liquid Amber, Anime, Copal, Suchicopal, and other Gums; several Creatures in whom the Bezoar Stone is found, and much Cacao for making of Chocolate, which is very valuable.” (Edward Cooke, A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World in the Years 1708 to 1711, Volume 1, p. 371)

Edited September 17, 2009 by Raphael Misson

[Iron Jon]

A little more history...

Mezcal and Tequila trace their origins back at least two thousand years. Around the first century A.D., the Indian tribes that inhabited what is now central Mexico discovered that the juice of the agave plant, if left exposed to air, would ferment and turn into a milky, mildly alcoholic drink. News of this discovery spread throughout agave-growing areas. The Aztecs called this beverage octili poliqhui, a name that the Spaniards subsequently corrupted into pulque (POOL-kay).

When the Spanish arrived in Mexico in the early 16th century, they soon began to make and drink pulque, but the low alcohol content (around 3%) and earthy, vegetal taste made it less popular among the conquistadors than European style beers and brandies. Early attempts to distill pulque were unsuccessful, as the resulting spirit was harsh and acrid. It was soon discovered, however, that cooking the agave pulp resulted in a sweeter juice which, when fermented, became known as Mezcal Wine. This "wine" was then distilled into the spirit that we know today as Mezcal.

Early Mezcal distilleries in the Spanish colony of Mexico operated in a manner similar to modern-day brewpubs. The distilling plant was usually small, and its production was consumed primarily in the distillery tavern (taberna). As the colony grew, the Mezcal wine industry followed apace and soon became an important source of tax revenue for the Crown. Periodic attempts by Spanish brandy producers to shut down the Mezcal industry were about as unsuccessful as similar efforts by English distillers to inhibit rum production in the British colonies of North America.

In 1656 the village of Tequila (named for the local Ticuilas Indians) was granted a charter by the governor of New Galicia. Tax records of the time show that Mezcal was already being produced in the area. This Mezcal, made from the local blue agave, established a reputation for having a superior taste, and barrels of the "Mezcal wine from Tequila" were soon being shipped to nearby Guadalajara and more distant cities such as the silver-mining boomtowns of San Luis Potosi­ and Aguascalientes.

The oldest of the still-existing distilleries in Tequila dates back to 1795, when the Spanish Crown granted a distillers license to a local padrone by the name of Jose Cuervo...

[RedJessi]

Going to the colder side of the Atlantic, there was whiskey.

King James I granted Sir Thomas Phillips a royal license to distill ‘uisce beatha’ (ish-keh ba-ha), the gaelic for 'water of life', in Co. Antrim in 1608. This is the first official recorded evidence of whiskey-making in the area - which was later to become Bushmills (one of my preferred brands - Black Bush being delightfully smooth with a hint of sweetness as it is aged in old sherry casks). Further, it is believed that troops of King Henry II drank Bushmills some 400 years before the distillery became officially licensed - but there are no reliable historical records that prove this.

Another good one, of course, is Jameson - in 1780 John Jameson established the Bow Street Distillery in Dublin.

[michaelsbagley]

And of course there is the old standby of mead... While I haven't come across a lot of period references, I have found a few (IIRC the "English Housewife", 1680s edition mentions it).

Currently I have some peach mead and blueberry mead, and I would not mind donating a couple of bottles to the cause (I'm more willing to part with the peach than the blueberry though)... I also have a large supply of cherry wine (both semi-sweet and dry). The peach mead is really good, the blueberry is also great (but both will get better with age). The cherry wine is palatable, but out of the three, it seems the most in need of aging. I'll bring some cherry wine as I have lots to spare, which will leave me plenty to age until it is just right (maybe next Pip, or the one after it?).

The wife even made some nice labels (although they are more modern looking labels and in modern standard wine bottles). Let me know if any of this interests you Hurricane. Worst case scenario, if Sangria is period (or close enough), I am sure the cherry wine could make a very good sangria.

[RedJessi]

Mmmmmmm.....sangria.......

[willie wobble]

AHHa, the Wobble juice 100% rum

[Raphael Misson]

Whatever Wobble juice is, as I remember the taste (that would be somewhat vaguely) it can't possibly be 100% rum. It has other flavors in it...or are those just flavored rums?

[Ben Fridley]

Mmmmmmm.....sangria.......

Agreed!!!

[hurricane]

I so forgot about Mead. Good catch, there! Smuggle some down and we'll enjoy it beachside. Too soon to know for sure, but I may be in Hawaii the days before and may bring back pineapple wine from the islands. And everything is palable, sir, after the first bottle. :)

-- Hurricane

And of course there is the old standby of mead... While I haven't come across a lot of period references, I have found a few (IIRC the "English Housewife", 1680s edition mentions it).

Currently I have some peach mead and blueberry mead, and I would not mind donating a couple of bottles to the cause (I'm more willing to part with the peach than the blueberry though)... I also have a large supply of cherry wine (both semi-sweet and dry). The peach mead is really good, the blueberry is also great (but both will get better with age). The cherry wine is palatable, but out of the three, it seems the most in need of aging. I'll bring some cherry wine as I have lots to spare, which will leave me plenty to age until it is just right (maybe next Pip, or the one after it?).

The wife even made some nice labels (although they are more modern looking labels and in modern standard wine bottles). Let me know if any of this interests you Hurricane. Worst case scenario, if Sangria is period (or close enough), I am sure the cherry wine could make a very good sangria.

[Iron Jon]

I also like Cachaca, a Brazilian liquor made from distilled sugar cane juice, which has been in production since the 1600's. It's kind of a cross between tequila and rum in my opinion. Paula always brings me back a few bottles when she goes home. You usually drink it in a 'caipirinha', which contains muddled lime, ice, and sugar.

[willie wobble]

Mission , wobble juice is necter of the Gods, ancient pyrate recipe , just RUM

and you know i'll mix up another batch for me mates at PIP

stay thirsty my friend!!!

[RaechelParker]

You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your post.

[Captain Jim]

As you know, The Catt & Fiddle is moving beachside. And in the spirit of the move there, we are working on this year's period drinks.

As you know, we make powerful good toddies - but to expedite and enhance your experiences this year, we have found a great new period device to use. Check it out!

As captain I have declared it period, right up there with Snickers. Ask Mickey and Kate about that fascinating history...

http://www.margaritavillecargo.com/Product.aspx?pid=6791

-- Hurricane

That's not a blender. Now this is a blender!