Reviews

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"