The Perfect Tonic: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits and Cocktails by Camper English

An intoxicating interconnected history of booze and medicine, from one of the world's foremost cocktail writers.

Consider the Negroni. The bittersweet cocktail dating to the early 1900s is made of equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari. Gin takes its name and flavour from the juniper tree, which medieval doctors burned to ward off bubonic plague and other miasmas. 'Vermouth' comes from the German word for wormwood, a herb famous for its ability to rid the body of intestinal parasites. Campari is a brand of liqueur dating to 1860 with a secret recipe probably containing gentian (effective against indigestion) and rhubarb root (used as a laxative). The perfect cocktail of curative ingredients is now self-prescribed as an aperitif. 

The intertwined stories of medicine and alcohol stretch back to the ancient world, and involve alchemy, madness and monks, not to mention microbiology, biochemistry and germ theory. Now, in The Perfect Tonic, Camper English reveals how and why the contents of our medicine and liquor cabinets were, until surprisingly recently, one and the same.

"Belongs on the bookshelf of every science nerd and cocktail geek" - Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist

Hardback
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Number of pages: 368
ISBN: 9780008394578

Note: Mildred would like to share with you the author's disclaimer: "This is most definitely not a book of natural cures or recipes for booze-based remedies, but one about the inseparable history of alcohol and medicine, of bartenders and pharmacists, of cocktails and cures. If you need medicine, talk to your doctor. If you need a cocktail, see your local mixologist."