Volume #4: Colonial America - West Main Crafting Co.
A century before the rise of the Cocktail, our eighteenth-century forefathers consumed much more alcohol than we drink today. Due to different tastes, as well as a lack of potable water, they drank porters, ales, hard ciders, and fortified wines—the only type of wine that could reliably survive the long sea voyage from Europe. The art of mixing alcoholic beverages itself was in a stage of baroque infancy. In our fourth volume, we unearth these archaic forms of mixed drinks from Colonial America, a dizzying array of Syllabubs, Slings, Juleps, Rattle-Skulls, iron-hot Flips, Bombos, and Stone Fences. And we do so in classic West Main style, with a mind toward authenticity and a palate for the adventurous.
In this volume you’ll find a cast of drinking arcana with titles to send the imagination spinning: a Guillotine, a Flip, and a Horn of Plenty, as well as dragons, sea monsters, a conniving doctor, and a bishop. These alone are enough to keep the seasoned drinker busy for a while, but Volume #4 also has new cocktail and spirit flights, a much-expanded absinthe section, home made sodas, aged cocktails, and our house standards.
As we work our way through Volume #4, we’ll be looking through the history of these earliest mixed drinks and sharing the stories of their respective inspirations. We’re also excited to tell the stories of our new flights, one named after another titan of cocktail history, Harry Johnson, and the other inspired by America’s earliest spirit, apple brandy. And of course, we have more absinthe to talk about than there is time. Stay tuned for stories and pictures, and come visit the bar for a taste of Volume #4.