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While the pandemic made me take a hiatus from writing, it sure didn't stop people from reading! Driven (unsurprisingly) by an article about where drive-thru drinks are legal, and by a recent increase in curiosity over why chicken wings are legally considered sandwiches in Colorado, people seem to be finding the site useful. And what more can a booze nerd ask for, really? #drinkhistory #legallydrunk

Summertime smash of gin, cucumber, basil and lime. Homemade #clearice cut to fit the Cologne Cathedral glasses @jonlang got me years ago. Wife @hedge_and_hearth sweetened hers up with her #homemade #foraged elderflower syrup!

Negronis, new puppy (who won't sit still for a picture), and post-thunderstorm summer evenings on the porch.

Heck of a nice evening out here.

You might think, between your zoom happy hours and your general ennui, that you're drinking a lot right now, but you've got nothing on an 1820s American. Back then, the average person drank more than twice as much as the average person today. It was partly because there was a lot of cheap whiskey around, but it was also because we had a whole lot of feelings. Link in profile!

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Why the Drinking Age is 21 in Every State
The Drunkest Time in American History
Mail-Order Alcohol: why you can’t get that niche bourbon (and why you might be able to soon)
Emergency Booze
How A Civil Service Job Helped End Prohibition
The First American Liquor Laws
Prohibition’s Racist Underbelly
The Maine Law
Dry Republicans, Wet Democrats? Alcohol and Party Politics in American History
A Brief History of Indian Alcohol Policy
The Whiskey Trust
Members Only: The History (and Legal Niche) of the Private Club
The Three Mile Limit: Booze on Boats
The Whiskey Ring
Liquoring Up the Electorate
Beginner’s Guide to the Whiskey Rebellion
Happy Hour Laws: States’ Quest To Keep People Happy, But Not That Happy
Lewis Rosenstiel, Capitalist Champion of America’s ‘Native Spirit’
The Aristocracy vs. Prohibition
The Taft Decision: What is Whiskey, Anyway?
A (Very Brief) History of Straight Whiskey
The Brown Jug Bills
Dram Shop Laws
Bottled In Bond
Chicken Wings are Sandwiches in Colorado
Your Liquor is Lying to You, and That’s Okay
The 15-Gallon Law: Pack My Box With Five Dozen Liquor Jugs
The “Habitual Drunkard:” Virginia’s Downright Prehistoric Anti-Homeless Law.
Kentucky’s 80 Different Liquor Licenses
Drive-Thru Daiquiris
War Between the Wine States
Boozy Trade Wars
The Government Can’t Decide If Whiskey Is Gluten Free
A Tall Whiskey COLA: Navigating a Web of US Labeling Laws
Why Aren’t There Nutrition Labels On Alcohol?
Do Higher Taxes Reduce Drinking’s Problems?
Home Distilling: Yep, Still Illegal
Appalachian Appellations: The Quest to Protect America’s Spirit
Behind the Zion Curtain: Utah’s Unorthodox Approach To Keeping Liquor Away From Innocent Eyes
Three Cheers, Three Tiers: Why Alcohol Production, Distribution, and Sales are Legally Separate
Prohibition’s Legacy
You have a baby… In a bar! How Laws About Kids In Bars Have Adapted (or not) to Changing Times
3.2%: Why Some State Laws Distinguish Between “Light” and “Heavy” Beer
The Control State Primer
Blue Laws: Football Season Edition
Beer Street and Gin Lane: Why Liquor is Treated Differently from Beer and Wine
Now Open Sundays: A Brief History of American Blue Laws
Intro: The Adventures of John Barleycorn and his Uncle Sam