Huffy Flounce

It's going to be a long morning.

Please stop.

Since I like to read random nonfiction, I really enjoyed "The Drunken Botanist," a guide to the plant life used in alcoholic beverages. I realized that there are many kinds of liquors I haven't tried, so now I'm trying them.

I always thought gin was a manly man liquor, but it's actually kinda floral. Tonight I tried gin for the first time, in a drink with chamomile, honey, and lemon. It was tasty.

Your description of The Drunken Botanist doesn't make it sound very random.

Remove the chamomile, honey, and lemon from your gin, and it will become less floral.

Ahhhh, Gin. Mothers ruin! Gin has a bad history here in ol' Blighty. From Historic Britain:

In the mid-eighteenth century the effects of gin-drinking on English society makes the use of drugs today seem almost benign! Gin started out as a medicine - it was thought it could be a cure for gout and indigestion, but most attractive of all, it was cheap.

In the 1730's notices could be seen all over London. The message was short and to the point:

'Drunk for 1 penny, Dead drunk for tuppence, Straw for nothing'!!

In London alone, there were more than 7,000 'dram shops', and 10 million gallons of gin were being distilled annually in the capital. Gin was hawked by barbers, pedlars, and grocers and even sold on market-stalls. Gin had become the poor man's drink as it was cheap, and some workers were given gin as part of their wages. Duty paid on gin was 2 pence a gallon, as opposed to 4 shillings and nine pence on strong beer.

The average person could not afford French wines or brandy, so gin took over as the cheapest, and most easily obtained, strong liquor.

Gin rendered men impotent, and women sterile, and was a major reason why the birth rate in London at this time was exceeded by the death rate.

The government of the day became alarmed when it was found that the average Londoner drank 14 gallons of spirit each year!

The government decided that the tax must be raised on gin, but this put many reputable sellers out of business, and made way for the 'bootleggers' who sold their wares under such fancy names as Cuckold's Comfort, Ladies Delight and Knock Me Down.

Overnight, gin sales went underground! Dealers, pushers and runners sold their illegal 'hooch' in what became a Black Market.

Much of the gin was drunk by women, consequently the children were neglected, daughters were sold into prostitution, and wet nurses gave gin to babies to quieten them. This worked provided they were given a large enough dose!

People would do anything to get gin…a cattle drover sold his eleven-year-old daughter to a trader for a gallon of gin, and a coachman pawned his wife for a quart bottle.

Gin was the opium of the people, it led them to the debtors' prison or the gallows, ruined them, drove them to madness, suicide and death, but it kept them warm in winter, and allayed the terrible hunger pangs of the poorest.
In 1736 a Gin Act was passed which forbade anyone to sell 'Distilled spirituous liquor' without first taking out a licence costing £50.

In the seven years following 1736, only three £50 licences were taken out, yet the gallons of gin kept coming.
On the last night, as the last gallons of gin were sold off cheaply by the retailers who could not afford the duty, more alcohol was drunk than ever before or since.

The authorities believed there would be trouble the following day but nothing happened. The mob lay insensible in the streets, too drunk to know or care.

The thirst for gin appeared insatiable. People sold their furnishings and even their homes to get money to buy their favourite tipple.

The horror of the situation in London was portrayed in a print by Hogarth called 'Gin Lane'. This shows a drunken woman with ulcerated legs, taking snuff as her baby falls into the gin-vault below. Henry Fielding, author of the book 'Tom Jones', also delivered a pamphlet to the government stating his protest against the perpetual drunkenness of the Londoners.

Once again the government was forced into action. A new 'Gin Act' was passed which raised the duty on drink and forbade the distillers, grocers, chandlers, jails and workhouses from selling gin.

Gin was never again quite so much of a scourge and consumption fell dramatically through the rest of the eighteenth century.

In 1830 the Duke of Wellington's administration passed the Sale of Beer Act, which removed all taxes on beer, and permitted anyone to open a Beer Shop on payment of a two-guinea fee.

This Bill virtually ended the traffic in gin smuggling.

By the end of 1830 there were 24,000 beer shops in England and Wales, and six years later there were 46,000 and 56,000 Public Houses.

Gin is still a popular drink, but happily not as popular as it was in history!

William Hogarth's Gin Lane- 1751

It's apparently also not a drink for vegetarians.

Very little is.

Beefeaters will drink just about anything. Some of them might turn down a glass of wheatgrass juice.

Pour some gin in there, though, and who knows?

The Swollen Goiter of God wrote:Your description of The Drunken Botanist doesn't make it sound very random.

Remove the chamomile, honey, and lemon from your gin, and it will become less floral.

But the key ingredient in gin is juniper berries, and many brands add other botanical extracts as well. Not wild about it straight, but liked this cocktail.

Did somebody say Gin?

OK, don't mind if I do!

Your kidneys are probably going to mind.

Also, what's left of your liver.

Also, your bleeding willie.

First night out for weeks last night. Curry with friends. Christ my head hurts!

Which one?

Why not both?

Can we get a mod to ban Fake Strider?

Why don't we just delete his account, instead?

(Wait for it... )

(I think we scared him away.)

If Fake Strider were a Drow missionary, he might say, "Why not Lolth?"

Then he'd be Chaotic Evil. If Fake Strider is Evil, he's very clearly Lawful Evil.

I don't care for Chaotic Evil folks.

Why not, Beau Th...