Moonshine: A Celebration of America’s Original Rebel Spirit
We love being able to share different aspects of our life with our readers and our different interests and hobbies. We both love reading and enjoy all sorts of books. We previously shared one of our favorite beer books in this post and now we’re excited to share with you another new favorite book, Moonshine: A Celebration of America’s Original Rebel Spirit by John Schlimm.
Moonshine is hailed as the original American rebel spirit. It’s the “versatile liquor that spans generations, political lines and genders.” It’s roots started deep in the heart of Appalachia and now you can find it everywhere from a backyard bbq or at a high end cocktail lounge. This book is your definitive Moonshine guide. It has over 100 cocktail recipes and infusions. It also has the largest collection of historical images.
To be honest, we are newbies to Moonshine. We didn’t know a lot about it other than it’s usually a high-proof distilled liquor that our friends would share with us when they would travel to West Virginia or when their grandpas would make it at home. But we’ve learned it’s so much more than that. We learned so much about the history of the spirit, like how it paved the way for NASCAR. Our favorite part of the book were the infusion and cocktail recipes. Moonshine is definitely going to become a staple on our bar cart.
Here’s just a few more interesting facts we learned from this awesome book:
- White lightning, wildcat, stump water, mountain dew, panther sweat, these are just a few of the MANY names moonshine goes by!
- During the 1700s, moonshiners in the northern colonies often used rye to make their whiskey while corn remained the main ingredient in Southern moonshine.
- Moonshine was often used in folk medicine remedies. It was combined with honey, lemon, juice and other fresh ingredients to become a popular cold and cough syrup during colonial times.
- In the early days of automobiles, moonshine was used as antifreeze by some people to keep the water in their radiators from freezing in the winter.
- For more fun and interesting facts, check out the book!
The author, John Schlimm is a descendant from one of the country’s oldest brewing families Straub Brewery. His great-great grandfather founded it in the 1870’s. He is the author of 17 books including the international award-winning The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook which is the largest beer cookbook ever, The Tipsy Vegan and The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Happy Hour.
To purchase your own copy of Moonshine head to Amazon. For more information on the book tour head to TLC Book Tour’s website!
*Disclosure: TLC Book Tour provided us with a complimentary copy of Moonshine, in exchange for a promotion. As always, all opinions are 100% our own.*