alcohol

Upstart Joined: 19 May 2010 Posts: 5

Hello Candice,

Can you tell me why the only alcohol men drink in Regency literature is brandy, whiskey, gin, or in the case of wine (which I am really questioning) is either port or claret? How boring! Or is that just what they called all wines?
Please advise.

Antiquemom

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 8:06 pm Post subject:

Welcome to the board, antiquemom! I moved this to the research section which seems more appropriate.

I can't be certain but here are my best guesses. I suspect there were more varieties of wine than the ubiquitous claret which, during the Regency days, was a red wine from the Bordeaux region of France. There were surely Burgundies and some version of white wine, eg Rieslings from Germany. But the standards which now define certain varietals did not exist until the late 19th century. So you are probably right in that "claret" was most often used (in England) to mean any red wine.

There were also the ports and Maderias and brandies and sherries, etc which were not typically taken with meals. And don't forget all the other ways they used wines, eg punches, mulled wines, etc.

Gin (also called Hollands) and whiskey were drunk straight, or perhaps with a bit of water. Remember that cocktails (the mixing of spirits and other ingredients) is an early 20th century invention.
_________________

Upstart Joined: 19 May 2010 Posts: 5

Candice,

Thanks for your help. After years of reading regencies, I figure that you are absolutely correct. I just needed corroboration.

antiquemom

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 7:34 am Post subject:

One thing I found in my research thus far to possibly keep in mind that whiskey was illegal to import in England until 1823. Not sure when it was "banned" exactly. So they have to stick to brandy and other spirits before then - unless they have holdings in Scotland or just don't care about the laws. Wink

I can dig up a link I found for that when I get home (currently on my grandmother's computer). Still trying to find more than just a website for that, but haven't made it to the library yet...so things could change.

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

They really didn't care about the law when it came to booze (who do you think drank all that smuggled brandy during all the years they were at war with France?).

I did a ton of research on this when I gave a workshop on the topic a couple of years back. Here's the basic info from my handout (yes, I got my workshop attendees quite tipsy, LOL!).

Whisky
[whisky is Scottish; whiskey is Irish]
Excerpted from Whisky.com

The Gaelic "usquebaugh", meaning "Water of Life", phonetically became "usky" and then "whisky" in English. The distilling process was originally applied to perfume, then to wine, and finally adapted to fermented mashes of cereals in countries where grapes were not plentiful. The spirit was universally termed aqua vitae ('water of life') and was commonly made in monasteries.

During the course of the 15th century, along with better still design, the dissolution of the monasteries contributed to an improvement in the quality of the spirits produced. Many of the monks, driven from their sanctuaries, had no choice but to put their distilling skills to use. The knowledge of distilling then quickly spread to others.

The increasing popularity eventually attracted the attention of the Scottish parliament, which introduced the first taxes on malt and the end product in the latter part of the 17th century. Ever increasing rates of taxation were applied following The Act of Union with England in 1707, when England set out to tame the rebellious clans of Scotland.

By the 1820s, despite the fact that as many as 14,000 illicit stills were being confiscated every year, more than half the whisky consumed in Scotland was being swallowed painlessly and with pleasure, without contributing a penny in duty. This flouting of the law eventually prompted the Duke of Gordon, on whose extensive acres some of the finest illicit whisky in Scotland was being produced, to propose in the House of Lords that the Government should make it profitable to produce whisky legally. In 1823 the Excise Act was passed, which sanctioned the distilling of whisky in return for a license fee of £10, and a set payment per gallon of proof spirit. Smuggling died out almost completely over the next ten years and, in fact, a great many of the present day distilleries stand on sites used by smugglers of old.

Brandy
[includes Armagnac, Cognac, and Calvados]
Excerpted from Wikipedia

Brandy (derived from brandywine, from Dutch brandewijn—'burnt wine') is a spirit produced by means of distilling wine. The origins of brandy are clearly tied to the development of distillation. Concentrated alcoholic beverages were known in ancient Greece and Rome and may have a history going back to ancient Babylon. Brandy, as it is known today, first began to appear in the 12th century and became generally popular in the 14th century.

Initially wine was distilled as a preservation method and as a way to make the wine easier for merchants to transport. It was also thought that wine was originally distilled to lessen the tax which was assessed by volume. The intent was to add the water removed by distillation back to the brandy shortly before consumption. It was discovered that after having been stored in wooden casks, the resulting product had improved over the original distilled spirit. In addition to removing water, the distillation process leads to the formation and break-up of numerous aroma compounds, fundamentally altering the composition of the distillate from its source. Non-volatile substances such as pigments, sugars, and salts remain behind in the still. As a result, the taste of the distillate may be quite unlike that of the original source.

Marsala
Excerpted From Wikipedia

Marsala is a wine produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. The most creditable version of the introduction of Marsala fortified wine to a wider audience is attributed to the English trader John Woodhouse. In 1773, Woodhouse landed at the port of Marsala and "discovered" the local wine produced in the region, which was aged in wooden casks and tasted similar to Spanish and Portuguese fortified wines then-popular in England [aka Port]. Marsala wine indeed proved so successful [in England] that Woodhouse returned to Sicily and, in 1796, began the mass production and commercialization of Marsala wine.

Port
Excerpted from Wikipedia

Port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto, Oporto, Porto, and often simply Port) is a Portuguese, fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It's typically a sweet wine, but comes as dry or semi-dry too. It is often served as a dessert wine.

[First] wine [is] produced [it] is then fortified with the addition of a Brandy (distilled grape spirits), in order to stop the fermentation leaving residual sugar in the wine and to boost the alcohol content. The wine is then stored and aged, often in barrels stored in caves (Portuguese meaning "cellars") as is the case in Vila Nova de Gaia, before being bottled. The wine received its name, "Port," in the latter half of the 17th century from the seaport city of Porto at the mouth of the Douro River, where much of the product was brought to market or for export to other countries in Europe from the Leixões docks. The Douro valley where Port wine is produced was defined and established as a protected region, or appellation in 1756 — making it the second oldest defined and protected wine region in the world.

Port became very popular in England after the Methuen Treaty of 1703, when merchants were permitted to import it at a low duty, while war with France deprived English wine drinkers of French wine. The long trip to England often resulted in spoiled wine; the fortification of the wine was introduced to improve the shipping and shelf-life of the wine for its journey.

The continued English involvement in the port trade can be seen in the names of many port shippers: Cockburn, Croft, Dow, Graham, Osborne, Sandeman, Taylor and Warre being amongst the best known.

There is a unique body of English ritual and etiquette surrounding the consumption of port, stemming from British naval custom. Traditionally, the wine is passed "port to port": the host will pour a glass for the person seated at their right and then pass the bottle or decanter to the left (the port side); this practice is then repeated around the table. If the port becomes forestalled at some point, it is considered poor form to ask for the decanter directly. Instead, the person seeking a refill would ask of the person who has the bottle: "Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?" (after the notoriously stingy Bishop). If the person being thus queried does not know the ritual (and so replies in the negative), the querent will remark "He's an awfully nice fellow, but he never remembers to pass the port."

Gin
[Hollands & Genever]
Excerpted from Wikipedia

Gin originated in the Netherlands in the 17th century. It is a common misconception that the word gin derives from the Swiss city, Geneva. In fact, the word gin derives from the French word for juniper - genévrier, which of course is the fruit which makes the drink. Its invention is often credited to the physician Franciscus Sylvius. It was sold in pharmacies and used to treat such medical problems as kidney ailments, lumbago, stomach ailments, gallstones, and gout. It spread to England after the Glorious Revolution put William of Orange on the British throne. Dutch gin, also known as jenever or genever, is a distinctly different drink from English-style gin; it is distilled with barley and sometimes aged in wood, giving it a slight resemblance to whisky. Schiedam, in South Holland, is famous for its jenever.

Gin became popular in England after the government allowed unlicensed gin production and at the same time imposed a heavy duty on all imported spirits. This created a market for poor-quality grain that was unfit for brewing beer, and thousands of gin-shops sprang up throughout England. By 1740 the production of gin had increased to six times that of beer, and because of its cheapness it became extremely popular with the poor. Of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London, over half were gin-shops.

The Gin Act 1736 imposed high taxes on retailers and led to riots in the streets. The prohibitive duty was gradually reduced and finally abolished in 1742. The Gin Act 1751 was more successful, however. It forced distillers to sell only to licensed retailers and brought gin-shops under the jurisdiction of local magistrates. Gin in the 18th century was produced in pot stills, and was somewhat sweeter than the London gin known today.

The column still was invented in 1832, and the "London dry" style was developed later in the 19th century. In tropical British colonies, gin was used to mask the bitter flavour of quinine, a protection against malaria, which was dissolved in carbonated water to form tonic water. This was the origin of today's popular gin and tonic combination, even though it is not necessary for the majority of today's consumers of the drink.

Sherry
[Commonly called Sack, or Canary (when from the Canary Islands)]
Excerpted from Wikipedia

Sherry is a fortified wine, made in and around the town of Jerez, Spain, in fact, the word "sherry" is an Anglicized version of "Jerez." In earlier times Sherry was known as sack (a rendering of the Spanish saca, meaning a removal from the solera). Sherry differs from other wines because of how it is treated after fermentation. After fermentation is complete, it is fortified with brandy. Because the fortification takes place after fermentation, all natural sherries are dry; any sweetness is applied later. In contrast, port wine is fortified halfway through fermentation, stopping fermentation so not all the sugars are allowed to turn into alcohol and so leaving a sweet wine.

Jerez has been a center of viniculture since wine-making was introduced to Spain by the Phoenicians in 1100 BC. Sherry wine became very popular in Great Britain after Francis Drake sacked Cadiz in 1587. At that time Cadiz was one of the most important Spanish sea ports, and Spain was preparing an armada there to invade England. Among the spoils Drake brought back after destroying the fleet were 2,900 barrels of Sherry that had been on shore waiting to be loaded aboard Spanish ships.

Sherry from the Canary Islands date back to the time of the conquest by the Kingdom of Castile. The varieties of grapevine brought by settlers tended to be white, suitable for making strong wines, which were easier to conserve. "Sack" aka "Canary" became the flagships of Canary Island wines.

Madeira
[There are four major types of Madeira, but the one most commonly drunk by the British is the sweetest one: Malmsey]
Excerpted rom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Madeira is a fortified wine made in the Madeira Islands, Portugal, which is made in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own as an aperitif, to sweet wines more usually consumed with dessert. Due to the unique maturation process the wines undergo, they are especially long-lived. Exposure to extreme temperature and oxygen [during its production] accounts for its stability; an opened bottle of Madeira will survive unharmed for a considerable time, up to a year. Before the advent of artificial refrigeration, Madeira wine was particularly prized in areas where it was impractical to construct wine cellars (such as those in parts of the southern United States) because unlike many other fine wines it could survive being stored over hot summers without significant damage.

Claret
[Famous clarets whose name you might recognize include Château Lafite, Haut-Brion, and Latour]
Excerpted from Wikipedia

The term claret is most common in the United Kingdom. People from other English-speaking countries (including the United States) usually call it "red Bordeaux" or just "Bordeaux".
It must be noted that the standard style of Bordeaux wine has not always been deep red. It used to be more of a rosé wine, hence the name: claret (English) coming from clairet (french), meaning pale. The meaning of "claret" has changed over time to refer to a dry, dark red Bordeaux.

Claret is frequently mispronounced as /klæ'ɹeɪ/ as it is believed to be a French word. Although it is originally from the French word clairet, the word claret is an English invention and thus is traditionally pronounced according to English orthography rules as /klæ'ɹɛt/.

Constantia
[Muscat]
Excerpted from Wikipedia

Constantia was a South African dessert wine grown in the district of Constantia, south of Cape Town. The wine was immensely popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and was exported to Europe. In 1685, the Constantia estate was established in a valley facing False Bay by the Governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel. His 'Vin de Constance' soon acquired a good reputation. But it was Hendrik Cloete, who bought the homestead in 1778, who really made the name of Constantia famous. It became a favorite tipple of European kings and emperors, from Frederick the Great to Napoleon.

Today we are drinking Eberle Muscat Canelli from California (because this wine is no longer produced in South Africa due to the devastation of South African vineyards by the phylloxera louse in the late 19th century).

Shrub
Much like punch or arrack this seems to have been something that people ordered in taverns (though given it’s nature, it lends itself to being made at home as well). I couldn’t resist making it. Multiple varieties exist, but the two most common appear to be lemon (which has a rum base) and raspberry (which has a brandy base). Basically it’s just juice, liquor and sugar. It can be served with either water, soda water [yes, this is period] or champagne [which is also period].
_________________
-Kalen
w/a Isobel Carr
Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011
Book 1: The League of Second Sons
www.isobelcarr.com

Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:47 am Post subject:

Awsome Kalen! Thank you for that to help clarify. That sounds like my type of workshop. Wink

I kept finding these bits on Austen and other regency centered sites and the like and more and more it was sounding like this hard and fast "lock you up and toss the key" type thing being repeated again and again in regards to whisky-ey in the English home before the 1820s.

Suppose that's what comes from over generalization/simplification of a fact that is then rinsed and repeated.

I have a few characters who are going to be much happier with me now.

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100