On Food and Cooking

Europe. Gin, a whisky-like medicinal
concoction from rye, with juniper added for
its flavor and diuretic effect, was first
formulated in 16th century Holland. The
renowned brandy of France’s Cognac, just to
the north of Bordeaux, arose around 1620.
Rum was first made from molasses in the
English West Indies around 1630, and
monastic liqueurs like Benedictine and
Chartreuse date from about 1650 on.
Over the next couple of centuries, the
drinkability of spirits improved as distillers
learned how to refine their composition. First
came double distillation, in which a wine or
beer is distilled, and the distillate then
distilled a second time; then in the late 18th
and early 19th centuries came ingenious
French and English column stills, which
produce alcohols of greater purity in one
continuous process. The growing availability
and drinkability of distilled liquors meant that
addiction became a serious problem,