History, Sugar and Sex: Why Mixed Drinks Were Terrible for 30 Years

It's an open secret in the wine industry, though, that a large quantity of grapes for California wine -- even of Napa Valley product (though I'm not sure how strict the rules are for appellations) are sourced from elsewhere in the state, much of it from near Fresno and Clovis. There simply isn't enough acreage within Napa Valley to supply production.

How much individualized production Frank-Lin does would be quite interesting to establish.

http://www.robsrum.com/RumBasics.html

I think the grandparent isn't right.

And about three seconds' thought would tell you: "GeorgeBeech, no idiot running a 'premium' liquor brand would allow their product to be featured on a bulk purveyor of flavored methanol products manufacturer website."

Brand appearances are tightly controlled. The message is as much about what you want to be known as what you want to be concealed.

http://sourmashed.com/american-whiskey-database/frank-lin-di...

A R Morrow Brandy, Lejon Brandy, Potter’s Finest Brandy, Montanac Brandy, Maraska Brandy, Busnel Calvados, Menorval Calvados, 1st Cru Collection Cognac, Francious Voyer Napoleon Cognac, Maison Prunier Cognac, Marthe Sepia Cognac, Menuet Cognac, Aubade & Cie. Cognac, Francois De Lyon Cognac, Jules Domet Cognac, Maison Prunier Cognac, Café Del Amor, Curacao Liqueur, Destinee Liqueur, Gran Citron, Grand Marquette, Holly Toddy, Jules Domet Orange Liqueur, Kona Gold Coffee Liqueur, Maraska Cherry & Pear Liqueurs, Potter’s, Potter’s Long Island Iced Tea, Potter’s Sour Splash, Vice Rei – Portugal Passion Fruit, Duggan’s Irish Cream, Barrett’s London Dry Gin, Bellringer (England) Gin, Cossack Gin, Martini London Dry Gin, Potter’s London Dry Gin, Classik Grappa, Jules Domet Grand Orange, Agwa, Arak Razzouk – Anise Liqueur, Par-D-Schatz, Ramazotti, Arak Razzouk, Don Antonio Aguilar, Diamond Head Rum, Havana Bay Rum, Moraga Cay Rum, Potter’s Specialty Rums, Potter’s West Indies Rum, Prichard’s Rum, Tanduay Rum, Glenalmond Scotch, Glen Ranoch Scotch, Muirheads Speyside Scotch, Angus Dundee Scotch, Tambowie Scotch, Blackburn’s Scotch, Duggan’s Dew Scotch, Lloyd & Haig Scotch, Potter’s Scotch, Maraska Kosher, Subovorska, Defrost Schnapps, El Tirador Tequila, Arette 100% agave Tequila, Baja Tequila, Baja Tequila Liqueur, Don Diego Santa Tequila, Potter’s Tequila, Puente Grande Tequila, Puerto Vallarta Tequila, Quito Tequila, Señor Rio Tequila, Sol De Mexico Tequila, Baronoff Vodka, Beyond Vodka, Charodei-Russia Vodka, Cossack Vodka, Crown Czar Vodka, Crown Superior Vodka, Ed Hardy-France Vodka, Haamonii-Schochu Vodka, Maggy-Russsia Vodka, Monnema Vodka, Monopolowa Vodka, Monopolowa-Austria Vodka, Potter’s Vodka, Purity-Sweden Vodka, Royal Czar Vodka, Spirit of Santa-Finland Vodka, Tamiroff Vodka, Vampyre-Transylvania Vodka, White Wolf Vodka, Bourbon Age – Ky Bourbon, Bourbon Club Bourbon, Buck Bourbon Bourbon, Clyde Mays Conecuh Ridge Whisky Bourbon, Joshua Brook Bourbon, Potter’s Bourbon, Wathen’s Bourbon, Barret’s Blended Whiskey, Glenwood Blended Whiskey, Potter’s Blended Whiskey, 8 Seconds Canadian Whisky, C.E.O. Canadian Whisky, Campbell & Cooper Canadian Whisky, Canadian Crown Canadian Whisky, Potter’s Crown Canadian Whisky.

They own everything from Louis Vuitton to Dom Pérignon to Veuve to Fendi and beyond.

The company has (very wisely) somewhat cornered the market on goods for the aspirationally wealthy. And the people who aspire to be apirationally wealthy. I've got a bottle of JW Blue and Veuve right now.

You know you're kind of being played when you buy it, but they provide a nice experience and a nice looking product, in addition to a decent to good product.

I pointed out US whiskey because the circumstances of its existence were not manipulated by marketers, but was the "natural" consequence of the limitations of the time. Further, that fits in with whiskey throughout the Western world, so the US is not unusual.

Like McSorley's Old Ale House in NYC, for instance, which has been operating at the same location since at least the 1860s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McSorley%27s_Old_Ale_House). Most Northern cities of any size will have had similar establishments set up at roughly the same time, though it's rare to find one that's been in continuous operation for so long.

I would venture to guess that when people think of an "Irish pub," nearly all of what they're thinking of comes out of the Irish-American pub tradition. The program described in the article just takes all that stuff and wraps it into an "official Irish" package that's easy to franchise.

As a commercial chain operation exporting an ersatz experience, the early 90s sounds right. But there have been individual establishments with an Irish clientele and atmosphere in most places where a high density of Irish emigrants ended up. See for example Doyle's Cafe in Boston.

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=St.+Patricks+D...

> As soon as packaged beer became popular in the mid-1930s, cans competed with refillable glass bottles for the market. The figure and table show how the rise of metal cans and a fluctuating but significant demand for one-way bottles concurred with the decline of refillable bottles. One-way containers helped national beer companies conquer the U.S. market, and their conquest further diminished the use of refillable glass bottles.

Marketing national brands also became easier with the rise of popularity of radio and TV in the 1950s. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-budweiser-became-the-king... comments:

> Budweiser had its glory days in the 1950s when Anheuser-Busch helped strengthen its national brand by sponsoring shows featuring Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, and Frank Sinatra. It also promoted its beer by sponsoring sporting events and branding stadiums. By the 1980s, Budweiser was synonymous with American culture.

Here's an essay about the decline of regional breweries in Cincinnati - http://www.wcpo.com/entertainment/local-a-e/cincinnatis-rise... . It shows that regional brands were popular pre-Prohibition, and my summary of it is that decreasing marketing and transport costs gave more weight to the economy of scale for the national brands.

http://tapsmagazine.com/in-this-issue/the-rise-of-national-b... might be useful, but non-subscribers like me only see "The 1950s witnessed the emergence of national brands, as the nation’s biggest brewers aggressively promoted their flagship beers from coast to coast."

Haven't found it yet, but did find this- a discussion of the saloons of the city, which mentions the Irish bar in town a few times, as well as Tennent's Ale, which was a growing global brand at the time.

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/285y5g/what_e...

In any case, I spend a fair amount of time browsing 19th century American magazines and newspapers (for fun, I suppose), and you can see the early national brands growing over the decades. The railroads were what made it all possible, they really did transform daily life in substantial ways. Certainly in places that were directly connected, but also even in more remote towns. Goods moved much more quickly, and growth hacking of all sorts was rewarded quite handsomely.

EDIT- here's the thread I was looking for, it was specifically the Tabasco brand we know today. There's also a subthread on cocktails of the era! http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/29tus4/compar...

IPAs are relatively easy to get right, but subtler styles like pilsner require more precision in the brewing process.

Now I'm seeing far more hoppy stuff around, but I'm also not goign to bars in Seattle anymore.

Beer Advocate lists 618 Doppelbocks: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/35/ and, taking a quick look down the list, it appears that at least half of them seem to be made in the US.

Hah, well finally I am validated. I was an anti-IPA snob when IPAs became all the rage. People would tell me how great this beer is, soooo bitter. Which to me is like drinking 80 proof vodka and claiming to taste the undertones of grains in it.

It sort of became like a badge of beer connoisseurship -- the more bitter you liked them the more you knew about beer.

Anyway, my favourite are wheat ales but also like stouts.