Ginger wine
Ginger Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from a fermented blend of ground ginger and raisins.
History
The drinks' origins date back to the 1740's and that decade's wide public availability of distilled alcoholic drinks. The drunkenness and anti-social behaviour of this period which was resultant of the easy availability of these drinks caused widespread moral outrage and panic, leading to the 1751 Excise Act; an act which forbade the retail of distilled spirits directly from the distillery to the public.
The first documented appearance of Ginger Wine occurred with with the foundation of 'The Finsbury Distilling Company' based in the City of London in 1740. The Finsbury Distilling Company, like other distillers, had to build a retail network in order to comply with the 1751 law. Of their customers Joseph Stone, a grocer of High Holborn, was one of the most prominent and important customer of the distillers, and as such, had his name given to their Ginger Wine.
The production method has changed little from its' first distillation, as it is today, from fine quality raisins and pure ground ginger, and soon Stone's Ginger Wine quickly became the flagship of The Finsbury Distilling Company's British wines division.
In 1832, sales were boosted by a cholera epidemic and a widely held belief that ginger offered protection against the disease; it has also been hailed as an aid to digestion and as an effective aphrodisiac.
Serving Suggestions
Ginger Wine can be drank on its own or over ice, but it is most famously drunk as a 'Whisky Mac' when mixed with whisky. Ginger Wine can also be drank with lemonade or other mixers such as ginger ale.