Drink of the Week's Rachel shares some thoughts on the 79th anniversary of the 21st amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or as it is also almost never called: Repeal Day! I'm certainly glad that Prohibition, which was kicked off by the 18th amendment, is long past.
Rachel steps us through the history of prohibition and how it changed drinking in America.
Not only did Prohibition change how alcohol was produced, it changed how we drank. The speakeasies that sprang up during Prohibition were really the first places to integrate women into drinking establishments. While cocktails were popular prior to Prohibition, they became ever more popular and inventive in the speakeasies to mask the poor quality of the bootleg alcohol that most served. And, the popularity of cocktails spread around the globe with the diaspora of American mixologists, seeking work elsewhere. Among others, London, Paris and Cuba benefited greatly from this diaspora and the hordes of thirsty Americans that followed on their drinking holidays.
