The Tasting Panel magazine

June 2015

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/518118

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 106 of 136

106  /  the tasting panel  /  june 2015 T he still that George Washington used to make brandy at Mount Vernon. A whiskey prescription for a "patient" trying to skirt those pesky alcohol laws during Prohibition. The silver cocktail shaker and cups Franklin Delano Roosevelt used to mix up strong (but allegedly not very good) Martinis in the White House each afternoon at 5 p.m. There are more than twelve billion records (including digital) contained in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., including the core documents that form the basis of this coun- try—the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. But the latest batch of finds is quenching history buffs' thirsts in a dif- ferent way. The Archives recently opened up an exhibit called Spirited Republic in the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery, which examines the dichoto- mous role alcohol has played in the United States over the years—as an object to be demonized, idolized and everything in-between. The exhibit will be on display through January 2016, and aims to give all visitors—not just hard-core spirits fans—a little beverage education about how we got here. (Hint: a little time spent perusing the walls and display cases gives a museum-goer A NEW EXHIBIT AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES EXAMINES AMERICA'S CONFLICTED RELATIONSHIP WITH ALCOHOL by Kelly A. Magyarics / photos by Mark Finkenstaedt A Spirited Republic The Spirited Republic's Chief Spirits Advisor Derek Brown in front of George Washington's still.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Tasting Panel magazine - June 2015