Chapter by Chapter

When spirits entrepreneur Steven Grasse considered writing a book about early American cocktails, he already knew it was a subject that had been, in his own words, “done to death.”

Ultimately, the book he did write, Colonial Spirits: A Toast to Our Drunken History, tells the story of a time when water was full of deadly bacteria, making alcohol the safest liquid to consume. With witty illustrations, Colonial Spirits thumbs its nose, ever so slightly, at the American obsession with mixology and fussily precise 12-ingredient cocktails. It does so by providing just one simple premise outlined on Page 3: “In relating these recipes to you, and updating them for modern times, it was of the utmost importance to us that you — yes, you — would not die or even be hospitalized should you choose to make or imbibe them.”

A Survival Guide To Colonial Cocktails (So You Don’t Die Drinking Them)