Alcohol: A History

6. DISTILLED SPIRITS, 1500–1750: Threats to the Social Order

110 6 DistilledSpirits 1500–1750 threats to the social order Until the end of the Middle Ages, the alcoholic beverages consumed in Europe were produced solely by fermentation. By far the most important were beer and wine, although mead, cider, and other fruit-based wines were also consumed in the regions where they were produced. Alcoholic beverages made by distillation appeared in Europe by the twelfth century, but even as late as 1500 they were produced in very limited quantities and almost exclusively for medical purposes. Yet by the end of the 1500s, distilled spirits had entered the mainstreams of European and American drinking cultures and the bloodstreams of their populations. The first form of spirits to be produced was brandy, which is distilled from wine, but before long, other beverages (notably whiskey, gin, and vodka) were distilled from cereals. In the seventeenth century, the distillation of rum from molasses, a by-product of sugar production, began. The appearance of these new alcoholic beverages, which were much higher in alcohol by volume than beer and wine and lacked their cultural traditions, had short- and long-term implications for patterns of alcohol consumption and regulation. They make the period from 1500 to 1750 a critical one in the history of alcohol. Distilling alcohol involves heating an alcohol-bearing liquid, usually made from grapes or cereals but also from fruits and vegetables, such as potatoes. Because alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water, it vaporizes before the water in the liquid, and the vapor is collected and then cooled, so that it condenses and produces concentrated alcohol in liquid form. Modern spirits go through one or two, and sometimes three, distillations; each distillation distilled spirits, 1500–1750 111 produces a liquid that is higher in alcohol by volume than the one before. The origins of the process are unclear, but an image in the works of the Egyptian/ Greek alchemist Zozimos of Panopolis in the early fourth century is easily recognizable as distilling equipment.1 This does not mean that distilled alcoholic beverages were produced at that time. Distilling can be used to separate any substances having different points of volatility. It is likely that the earliest distillation was used to purify substances like mercury, water, and various oils—and to pursue the alchemists’ ultimate goal of turning base metal into gold—rather than to produce a more intensely alcoholic beverage. Moreover, although classical texts contain many references to the production and consumption of fermented beverages, there are none to beverages made by distillation . Arab scientists who later advanced the work of the Greek alchemists might well have distilled alcohol, and much of the language associated with the process has Arabic roots: there is the word “alcohol,” for a start, and also “alembic,” the apparatus used for heating the liquid and cooling the vapor. But an argument has also been made that distilling began in the border areas of modern Pakistan and India.2 When Europeans learned and applied the science of distilling alcohol is not clear. It has been suggested that the first batch of spirits was produced in 1100, at the prestigious medical school at Salerno, in southern Italy,3 but if that is so, it took a remarkably long time for alcohol distilling to catch on more widely. Although there are references to distilling throughout the rest of the twelfth century, some with the object of purifying water, none records distilling alcohol. Perhaps the few instances of alcoholic distillation were carried out only as a curiosity, or the product tasted so bad that distillers did not drink enough of it to appreciate its effects and its potential. The first unambiguous references to distilled alcohol as a beverage date from the thirteenth century. In Spain, a Catalan scholar of Muslim science , Ramon Lull, admired the smell and flavor of his distilled spirit and presciently suggested that it might be an excellent stimulant for soldiers before they went into battle.4 His colleague Arnaldus de Villa Nova, from Valencia, promoted distilled alcohol as having rejuvenating effects—this two centuries before his fellow countryman Ponce de Leon looked for rejuvenating waters (the Fountain of Youth) in the New World. One of Arnaldus ’s scientific preoccupations was identifying ways to maintain or regain youthfulness. His various recommendations included drinking a concoction of saffron, aloes, and viper juice; being cheerful and moderate; and avoiding sex and strenuous exercise.5 Perhaps it is not surprising that he would think...