Cider is sunshine in a glass! Follow Jane Peyton on a glorious voyage of discovery, from the journey the wild Malus Sieversii apple - ancestor of today's domesticated apple - has made from the foothills of Central Asia's Tien Shan mountains, to the Norman invasion, which introduced new apple varieties and pressing technologies to Britain, to the colonists of America, who took apples with them, planted the seeds and drank cider long before beer brewing was properly established.
Few if any alcoholic drinks have the dramatic and multi-faceted history of gin. In this fascinating new instalment of the British Library's pocket philosophies, gin is explored through its origins in Holland, where it was popularised by William of Orange; its roots in medicine; its capacity to provide an albeit destructive escapism during the Gin Craze; its influence on language - responsible for the coining of 'dutch courage'; and its current status as a popular social beverage and a pastime for those keen to experiment with flavouring their own gins.
The Philosophy of Gin covers the historic transformation of the beverage, ideal flavour pairings for the gin connoisseur, and how a spirit once given a wide berth by the middle and upper classes now attracts such a large proportion of the British public to choose gin as their tipple of choice.
