Christmas special 2025: Anyone for cocktails?

Christmas is here, and after a brief hiatus due to a hectic workload, Chris Fernandez-Packham returns with the traditional festive special . This year, we raise a glass to the Victorian origins of the cocktail—a “Golden Age” of social and technological evolution that saw the transition from traditional British punches to the precision of the American “sensation-drink” . From the “Ice King” who shipped New England ponds to Calcutta to the middle-class women of Chicago claiming public spaces one Manhattan at a time, we explore how spirits, science, and social change collided . We conclude, as always, with a classic Victorian ghost story: The Shadow in the Corner by M. E. Braddon . Key Topics Covered: The Original Manuals: Comparing Jerry Thomas’s legendary Bar-Tender’s Guide (1862) with the defensive British response in Drinking Cups & Their Custom (1869). The Science of Bitters: The medicinal origins and industrialization of Angostura and Peychaud’s bitters. Technological Breakthroughs: How the Coffey Still revolutionized spirit consistency and Frederic Tudor created the global ice trade. Cocktails and Gender: The role of the cocktail in helping middle-class women claim public spaces in 19th-century Chicago tea rooms. New Orleans Chemistry: The multicultural melting pot that gave us the Sazerac, the Absinthe Frappé, and the labor-intensive Ramos Gin Fizz. Royal Habits: Queen Victoria’s daily Scotch-and-wine habit and her curious refusal to use ice. Festive Ghost Story: A reading and analysis of The Shadow in the Corner by M. E. Braddon. Works Cited & Sources: Jerry Thomas: The Bar-Tender’s Guide / How to Mix Drinks . Henry Porter & George Roberts: Drinking Cups & Their Custom (1869). Emily A. Remus: “Tippling Ladies and the Making of Consumer Culture” ( The Journal of American History ). Angostura Bitters: “Our Story”. Scotch Whisky Magazine: “Whisky Heroes: Aeneas Coffey”. Statista: “U.S. Alcohol Consumption Per Person”. Big Edition: “Queen Victoria’s Food Habits”. Smithsonian Magazine: “Did New Orleans Invent the Cocktail?”. “ A Brief History of Ice .” The Alcohol Professor, 19 Mar. 2018, . Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. “ Commercial Ice – Cambridge Historical Society .” History Cambridge, historycambridge.org/innovation/Ice.html. Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. “ Planning and Control in the 19th Century Ice Trade. ” Accounting Historians Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, Spring 1984, egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1196&context=aah_journal. Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. The Ice King: Sazerac Recipe and History. New Orleans & Company, . Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. “The Sazerac Story.” The Sazerac Company, . Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. “What is a Coffey Still?” Whiskipedia, 22 May 2020, whiskipedia.com/fundamentals/what-is-a-coffey-still/ . Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. The Emergence of New Orleans Cuisine.” The American Menu , 5 June 2024, . Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. “History of Craft Cocktails in NOLA.” Where Y’at New Orleans , 20 Nov. 2024, . Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. “History of the Cocktail.” New Orleans & Company , . Accessed 20 Dec. 2025. The post Christmas special 2025: Anyone for cocktails? appeared first on AGE OF VICTORIA PODCAST .

You can listen to Christmas special 2025: Anyone for cocktails? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Christmas special 2025: Anyone for cocktails? is an episode from AGE OF VICTORIA PODCAST by Chris Fernandez-Packham (Victorian History Lover/Queen Victoria Fan).

This episode is 50:14 long.

This episode was published on Dec 21, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from AGE OF VICTORIA PODCAST when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.