An unnecessarily detailed analysis of the alcoholic beverages at the last meal
Okey, situation: as some of you may know if you watch this blog often, I'm a cocktail aficionado. I was recently doing some research on port wine because I wanted to buy one to make some Lenore-based themed cocktails and because I wanted to expand my ingredient list (Vitamin wines are quite versatile) and I ended up with the idea of doing a more in-depth review on this topic.
Okay, let's start with what gave rise to this. Port wine is a type of fortified wine (i.e. wine to which other distillates are added before fermenting, which increases the alcohol content) born in the city of Oporto in Portugal around the XVI-XVII century, this specific variety of wine uses aguardente before being fermented.
There are several types of port, so it is difficult to know which is exactly the one Lenore is drinking, but from the dark red color of the glass, I have two options: a ruby port or a vintage port.
The first is the more commonly distributed (and, in some places, cheaper) is a fruity, sweetish wine with a hint of acid; so it's the kind of thing you'd probably drink at a meal. However, the second is the most expensive variety of port and the only one that is bottle-aged; taking into consideration that the Vandernatch belonged to New York royalty, it is very likely that this is the specific variety Lenore is drinking.
So that we all agree: lager (or lager beer) is the most popular variety of beer in the world. They are light, mild, bitter and served cold.
What she has in her glass must specifically be a pale lager. That is, what we all have in mind when we think of a glass of beer, having a pale golden color.
One important thing is that two of Japan's largest brewing companies specialize in lager beer: Kirin and Sapporo; both brands began to be marketed during the 19th century.
Another detail is that the brewing industry was reactivated in the USA during the year 1933 and, although hardly at the beginning, by the 1940's beer production increased considerably.
So the type of beer she is drinking may be a nod to her Japanese heritage (lager is the most popular type of beer in Japan) or we can assume that she was a customer at the brewpubs that were popular in the USA during the reopening of the beer trade after prohibition.
This is a very special case. The beer that Morella is drinking is specifically a guinness, that is, a brand of black beer brewed since 1759 that was born in the city of Dublin in Ireland.
Although this beer is also drunk a lot in Scotland, the truth is that it is much more popular in Ireland, so we can assume that it is a reference to her country of origin.
Cider is an ancient drink (it is said that the Hebrews and Egyptians already made it), but it became extremely popular in England during the 17th century, surpassing beer in popularity and becoming part of the cultural identity of the country, having a lot of varieties.
It's impossible to know which specific cider Pluto is drinking but, as with Morella, it's quite indicative of its country of origin.
Brandy is a type of spirit obtained from the distillation of wine and there are tons of variations throughout the world. Although the most common origin story I've found tells of a Dutch merchant who bought wines in the Cognac region of France and distilled them, leaving the alcohol in casks so he could collect it on his return trip (which never came to fruition).
Now, one interesting thing here is that even if you can argue that brandy was born in France, it is interesting that Duke is drinking “brandy” in generic rather than drinking Cognac or Armagnac, which are two varieties of brandy produced exclusively in France.
This is a type of whiskey made exclusively in the USA and is native to Kentucky from the fermentation of corn. It has been produced since the end of the 18th century and, fun fact, its first known producer was a Baptist pastor.
Anyway, the interesting thing about Montresor drinking it is that bourbon is a drink that was, for a long time, “popular” and is commonly associated with the southern part of the USA. Another interesting thing is that it has a fairly high alcohol content, reaching over 50% alcohol.
Fun fact: the name “champagne” is exclusive to the region of the same name, although we usually call sparkling wines in general.
And yes, we all know that champagne is a drink associated with luxury, but this made me review why and there are several reasons why Ada would choose it to accompany her caviar:
Champagne was the favorite drink of the European courts and bourgeoisie for quite some time.
Having a rather complicated winemaking process, it was stupidly expensive.
Serving champagne “correctly” is a real pain in the ass: the bottle is kept horizontally, you have to drink it in a specific glass at a temperature of 6-8 degrees Celsius (to reach this temperature is that they put it in ice buckets for about 20 minutes) and the glass has to be tilted in a particular way.
So it's understandable why, of all the fancy things available, she would choose this.
This is, to me, the most interesting drink of all the ones in this section. Let's take it one at a time.
The Gin Fizz was born in the 19th century, where several versions are documented. However, the one who hated the great leap in the preparation of this cocktail was Henry C. Ramos, in the city of New Orleans. One of his Gin Fizz could have up to 30 bartenders involved passing a shaker around for half an hour.
The popularity of this cocktail increased dramatically during the Prohibition era, since, in all its versions, it looks like lemonade.
Since Bernice's Gin Fizz doesn't seem to have an excessive amount of foam, it's likely a pre-Ramos recipe (which is kind of funny because The Bartender's Guide cocktail manual of 1876 considers the Gin Fizz to be a hangover remedy).
Another fun fact: if Bernice isn't looking surprised at the ice cubes inside her cocktail, it's because this girl was used to ultra-luxury bars: refrigeration wasn't a thing back then and if your drink ever got ice, it was more likely to be an ugly block chopped up badly than a nice ice cube.
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