Colonel Ethan Allen certainly didn't require liquid courage, but a few nights before he and the Green Mountain Boys raided Fort Ticonderoga, that's just what he sought. This drink was a popular, bracing blend of hard cider and rum, and Allen and his men downed plenty of them in the days before their pre-dawn raid of May 1775.
Though Allen and his crew usually hung their caps 47 miles south at Bennington, Vermont's Catamount Tavern, their local in the days before the raid was Remington's Tavern in Castleton; its room must have roared with testosterone as 80+ armed ruffians drank in its chambers.
Want to drink like they did? It's easy. Drop two ounces of dark rum in a glass, then top with hard cider—preferably one with a touch of residual sweetness. For a modern touch, garnish with a lemon twist.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Drinks: "5 Colonial-Era Drinks You Should Know"
Next time at a bar, see if your know it all bartender can make you any one of these. A taste (or a sip):
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“Not drunk is he who from the floor,
Can rise again and still drink more.
But drunk is he who prostrate lies,
Without the power to drink or rise.”1
1 Sharon V. Salinger, Taverns and Drinking in Early America (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), 86.
It is well documented that colonial taverns were often required (licensed) to be sited near the church or meetinghouse, and religious services (including christenings, weddings and funerals), along with court and legislative sessions (and elections) were often held in the major tavern of colonial American towns.
Cheers!
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