Wednesday July 2nd at 19:00 IST/BST (Dublin/London), 14:00 EST (New York), 11:00 PST (LA)
On Wednesday, July 2nd, we’ll be hosting the next instalment in our ongoing series of Online Hedge School events exclusive to our kind Supporters,, investigating the lost gastronomic history of usquebaugh, whiskey’s illegitimate grandparent and Ireland’s most famous historical cordial.
As we’re so often reminded, the spirit of Ireland is whiskey — A barrel-aged spirit with nothing else added but cereal, water, yeast, and time. But it wasn’t always thus. From the late 1500s through the early 1700s, Ireland’s famous drink was usquebaugh, a halfway house word between uisce beatha and whiskey once famously regarded as ‘the richest cordial in Europe’. Although often thought of as an ancestral form of ‘whiskey’ – this unaged spirit would have tasted nothing like a modern malt. Distilled from either grain or wine, it was usually compounded with rich, liqourice-like recipes and dyed yellow with saffron. It was drunk at Normano-Gaelic feudal feasts, in the homes of the later big house ascendency, and even in Georgian druggist shops in Dublin. For around a century, it actually co-existed with emerging ‘whiskey’ as two distinct drinks. Jonathan Swift and Turlough O’Carolan were both partial to it. And yet in Ireland now, we almost never talk about it. Well, stick with us because that’s all going to change. On Tuesday, we’ll be taking the deepest dive in public memory into the early roots, amorphous history, and obscure life abroad of Ireland’s most famous cordial.
This talk will be the first in a running Créatúr Hedge school series, The Muddler’s Tale, investigating the understudied history and potential of mixed drinks in Ireland. From usquebaugh to funeral punch to what’s happening now in Irish bartending, we’ll be bringing whiskey back where it belongs – In the curious hands of bartenders. We’ll be joined across the series by our dear friend, Irish Whiskey Society president Alison Kavanagh as guest MC. In this first episode, Ali and Fionnán will be joined by progressive publican and Dead Rabbit co-founder Sean Muldoon, along with mixologist and Redacted indie bottler co-founder Ronan Collins for some fresh perspective from behind the bar.
This live online event takes place on Wednesday July 2nd at 19:00 IST/GMT (Dublin/London), 14:00 EST (New York), 11:00 PST (LA)
As with all Hedge School events, booking is reserved for Créatúr’s Supporter community. For any non-members interested in joining up you can sign-up here – we’ve a lot more coming in the future.
Supporters check your email for event announcement and registration information or contact us if you need any assistance…
