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And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails Paperback – June 5, 2007

by Wayne Curtis (Author)

95 customer reviews

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Now revised, updated, and with new recipes, And a Bottle of Rum tells the raucously entertaining story of this most American of liquors

From the grog sailors drank on the high seas in the 1700s to the mojitos of Havana bar hoppers, spirits and cocktail columnist Wayne Curtis offers a history of rum and the Americas alike, revealing that the homely spirit once distilled from the industrial waste of the booming sugar trade has managed to infiltrate every stratum of New World society.

Curtis takes us from the taverns of the American colonies, where rum delivered both a cheap wallop and cash for the Revolution; to the plundering pirate ships off the coast of Central America; to the watering holes of pre-Castro Cuba; and to the kitsch-laden tiki bars of 1950s America. Here are sugar barons and their armies conquering the Caribbean, Paul Revere stopping for a nip during his famous ride, Prohibitionists marching against "demon rum," Hemingway fattening his liver with Havana daiquiris, and today's bartenders reviving old favorites like Planter's Punch.

In an age of microbrewed beer and single-malt whiskeys, rum--once the swill of the common man--has found its way into the tasting rooms of the most discriminating drinkers. Complete with cocktail recipes for would-be epicurean time-travelers, this is history at its most intoxicating.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Toasts to And a Bottle of Rum

“And a Bottle of Rum is a fascinating tale of cultural metamorphosis, tracing rum’s remarkable journey from colonial rotgut to SoHo cocktail. A book with as many revelations about American history as about this archetypally American drink.” —Jack Turner, author of Spice: The History of a Temptation

“History never tasted so good. What Herbert Asbury did for the gangs of New York, Wayne Curtis does for rum: The profiteers who traded it, the pirates who raided it, the underclass who guzzled it, the mixologists who exalted it, and the corporations who homogenized it—Curtis tells their tale with style and sweep in a tour de force of social history, urban anthropology, and cocktail ‘alcohology.’ A delight from first sip to last.” —Jeff Berry, author of Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log, Intoxica!, and Taboo Table

“And a Bottle of Rum reveals the facts behind rum’s colorful history while telling a great story of rebellion and rumbustion!” —Dale DeGroff, author of The Craft of the Cocktail

“Wayne Curtis breaks fascinating new ground in this very palatable history of the world-through-rum-colored glasses. The writing shows what makes modern journalism so great: clean, succinct, inclusive smoothness—not unlike great rum—and Curtis is a virtuoso at it.” —Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh, author of Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails

About the Author

Wayne Curtis was the spirits and cocktails columnist for The Atlantic magazine for eight years, and has also written about drinks for the Wall Street Journal, Imbibe, The Daily Beast, and The American Scholar. In 2002 Curtis was named Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year by the Society of American Travel Writers. He lives in New Orleans and Maine.

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Product details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Broadway Books; Reprint edition (June 5, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307338622
ISBN-13: 978-0307338624
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
Average Customer Review: 95 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #138 in Books > History > Americas > Caribbean & West Indies > Cuba
- #321 in Books > History > World > Slavery & Emancipation
- #324 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Cooking

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HelmutS

As exciting as the best mystery!

February 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

The best book I read all year. It fully describes the history, economics, politics, processes, taste, and recipes for rum. It is extremely well written and as exciting as reading a mystery thriller. The only thing lacking are illustration, of which the book could use a few, especially on the historical equipment, etc. A highly recommended book. I ended up buy a book on cognac after this just to get a full understanding.

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

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McFly

Engrossing, Entertaining, Wonderfully Researched and, finally, "Drink This, I'm Tellin' Ye..."

August 23, 2018

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Following in the footsteps of my review of Wayne's book, "The Last Great Walk," which I began with the exact same phrase, " Following in the footsteps of...," I am now doing so again for his revised and updated version of, "And A Bottle of Rum," which, frankly, I did not review on "...Rum's..." inaugural voyage.

First off: any cat whose rule of thumb is, "never visit a new state without stopping by a liquor store to see what's in stock," has my full endorsement. Period. Exclamation Point. I'm buying you a drink.

The subheading of the book is, "A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails." This is true. These cocktails are (in order of appearance in this intoxicating Cast-of-Characters): Kill-Devil, Grog, Flip, Bombo, Punch, Prune Water, Daiquiri, Rum & Coke, Mai Tai, Mojito. And each one, literally, does contribute to telling an accurate history of the New World that pulls together quite neat-ly, nicely and last call when all of their histories are taken as a whole.

From Ernest Gantt to Ernest Hemingway, I truly wish my high school history class presented the facts of our genesis in this manner. And not to be missed are these other libations of wackiness when you sidle up to this literary bar: "Where the Wet Begins," and, "he liked to paint 'ice-skating nuns and perky otters.'" Really.

One reason why I drink and obsess about and seek the history of cocktails is because of the world they fostered and the celebrities that drank them and the way they are celebrated in their art of dedicated creation by those bartenders that do it best. Not much is sexier than enjoying a toe-curling generational cocktail that helped change our world with great company in an amazing bar. Nothing. (Well. Almost nothing...)

And when you do so, you are a part of that history. "And A Bottle of Rum," is the real deal. Read it if you enjoy, are intrigued by or fascinated by any of the above.

For those of you who always look for a (Mc)fly in your drink, the only quibble I have is that Wayne says of the Papa Doble and the Hemingway Special, that, "Neither drink, it saddens me to report, is of much merit."

Says you! I differ in opinion--and fall to the yummy side of--this matter of Ernest Hemingway. But why quibble while quaffing? There are plenty of rumbunctious libations we can agree on. Relax, choose one--or many--and put thy toes in the proverbial sand...with, "And A Bottle of Rum," in hand.

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Anthony J Cerniglia

Love the book

August 21, 2017

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Love the book! The history of Rum and cocktails made for a very interesting read. Wayne has great way of telling the stories with a rum sense of humor. He's just a few bottles short of being pirate. The rum drinkers will understand it well. The only downside of reading this book is your going to want to try most of the drink recipes listed in the book.

Cheers!

One person found this helpful2 people found this helpful

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Keith A. Weaver

A very pleasant read

July 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

A very enjoyable book, though for me, it started a little slowly. But after a chapter or two, I was hooked. As the subtitle suggests, author Curtis doesn't just present a history of rum, though this is covered in admirable detail, but interweaves the story of rum with the concomitant history of the U.S., the West Indies, and even Europe to some degree, from the 17th century onward. Mr. Curtis is adept at describing the connections between the spirits trade, patriotism, slavery, and other seemingly disparate topics, while correcting myths and dubious assertions. Readers are treated to the alcoholic origins of many curious customs and expressions, such as "at loggerheads." Students of history, philology and/or libations will likely find "And a Bottle of Rum" quite to their taste.

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Nick Colaccino

I very much enjoyed the author's use of anecdote to convey history in ...

November 6, 2016

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An extremely interesting read. I very much enjoyed the author's use of anecdote to convey history in a more entertaining way than just giving facts and figures. However, I will say that a lot of the anecdotes seemed to be based more on the authors imagination than actual history. Sentences about the historical figures' thoughts and feelings are almost undoubtedly Mr. Curtis's own interpretation and not backed in research. In several instances, the reader gets the sense that Mr. Curtis is conveniently using these kinds of historical liberties to skew perceptions and alter the gravity of the quantitative source material (whether to make the fact more or less significant).

Overall, it is an entertaining and informative read. I high suggest this book.

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W. Eden

Five Stars

October 1, 2017

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I enjoyed the book, learned a lot from it.

2 people found this helpful3 people found this helpful

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Rawim

A Great Rum History Book

August 18, 2010

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Just a great book on the history of Rum and it's place int he new world. From the development of rum as a use for the waste molasses in the Caribbean to the Mojito craze of the 1980's. Wayne Curtis does a fine job of taking you through the history of Rum and introduces you to many of people who shaped it's path along the way, by dividing eras of rum history into the favorite rum cocktail of that age. I found the book to be both very interesting and informative. Kind of like a fun to read history book that involved one of my favorite distilled spirits. If you are a fan of rum and want to know more about it, or you are just interested in the history of America's first national spirit then I believe you will really enjoy this book.

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mousemom

Interesting approach to history

December 4, 2017

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Enjoyed this book. I like learning history from a different perspective and this book delivers. I liked the authors style - serious and funny - not at all a stuffy history book.

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