The Great Eggnog Riot
Sylvanus Thayer—whose name sounds like a lizard-rat-man hybrid Lord Voldemort would keep caged for dark-magic rape rituals—took command of West Point in 1817.
Within a...
Strange Brews: Natty Light
“Natty” (or “Unnatural Light,” as it’s also called) has long been the unofficial beer of students and the cash-strapped everywhere.
As the market analysts say,...
Strange Brews: Jeppson’s Malort
I don’t know how many countries actually signed the Evil Booze Nonproliferation Treaty of 1903, but we can safely say it was a total...
What’s the Word? Thunderbird!
What's the word? Thunderbird!
How's it sold? Good and cold.
What's the jive? Bird's alive.
What's the price? Thirty twice.
—1957 radio jingle
Maverick, Silver Satin, Triple Jack:...
Papa and Jinny
No one is certain where or when Ernest Hemingway began his long relationship with the tall silver flask he called Jinny, but a handful...
A Killer Drink
What you drink can say a lot about you—for better or worse. It seems that, with astonishing frequency, murderers tend to be connected with...
Pocketful of Joy: The Hip Flask Manifesto
A hip flask is a container for liquor like a Molotov cocktail is a bottle for gasoline.
If you've carried the former or hurled the...
On the Trail of Mickey Finn
Somebody…
Somebody…
Somebody put somethin'
In my drink.
—The Ramones
Over the course of humankind's long, lovely relationship with liquor, various persons have, at various times and for various,...