Looking back a 100 years ago, the first prohibition in America was passed in to Law. Known as the Volstead Act, it set off a chain of events that sent the American economy crashing, and on a spiral that led to the great depression and a global recession.
Ironically, the act of Prohibition itself, scattered the seeds of our craft as Cocktail Bartenders far and wide across the world, to places like Paris, London, Venice & Cuba..... Giving birth to the global phenomenon we know very well here at Drink Think, The Cocktail!! A term now used for almost all mixed drinks & probably this periods only silver lining.
Today we cant help but look again to study further the effects this prohibition had on America from 1920 to 1933 with a view to learning some lessons from the past. This sentiment is with respect to the social prohibition that we are all living through today. Is history in a weird way repeating itself.... Woven up in a cocktail there is always a story to be told and narrative to be spun and home truth to be shared. Sensible drinking and thinking alongside good humour is at the heart of every healthy city town or village. In this era bars became known as illegal speakeasy. Often accessed with hidden doors, secret knocks, tucked away in sound proofed basements and back rooms out of site from the law. It was also very much a place, to speak easy and freely with no fear from reproach or censorship. A place to share and test our intellect in a loose environment with people who also cherished their freedoms to lubricate socially and physically. A liberty we all took for granted until a short time ago.....
Here at Drink Think we sign up to one thing! Our freedom to brew, ferment, mix, distill, heat, chill, bottle and serve, both fine soft and alcoholic beverages in all their forms, whilst equally considering the setting and it’s effect too. It’s a dream state we live project and love, and one we will defend to the very end. To us this is the artistry of life itself, with drinks & toasts we share together, framing the very times of our lives as a celebration of it all. To us this is the very essence of life, and one we toast as a liberty enshrined since the beginning of time. Beer after all, arguably built the pyramids!!
Sadly it seems Prohibition 2.0 is upon us and not set to go away anytime soon folks.
Might be time for a rethink and a stiff 4 olive dry Martini, lets hope its not with Death's Door Gin.
Stay Safe & Free Folks.
SG x
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