The story of the Highlander and the Devil is an old Scottish folk tale. It reminds a bit of the encounters the Beer King Gambrinus and the Serbian saint Sava had with Satan, but as it plays in Scotland of course this is a whisky story. Unlike the formentioned folk tales from Belgium and Serbia…
Japan has a very rich culture when it comes to myths and sagas. We found one about their national drink saké that we like to share with you. As you probably know saké is a rice wine that is used in many traditional ceremonies. This folk tale is about a rare version of the drink…
The most common mistake foreigners make when they drink with Russians is to say something like “na zdarovje” each time they raise a glass of vodka. Sure, your company will smile and know you mean well, but actually it makes you look pretty ignorant. Yes, it would be recognized as Russian, but more in the…
In our serie of stories on historical drunkards we usually report about the drunken escapades. Not this time though, Robert Glenn Johnson Junior, better known as Junior Johnson, rather supplied people with tasty handcrafted booze. He kept a fine family tradition going as he was making and moving moonshine from a young age. As a…
When you think of successfully defending a town in 17th century, what comes to mind is brave soldiers in epic battles fighting with guns and bodies till their last breath to ward off the enemy. However, this is not how then-mayor of the German town Rothenburg ob der Tauber saved it. His heroism involved a…
Halloween is coming up tomorrow and all around the world people will seize this celebration as an opportunity to dress up, get drunk and act silly. But what few people know is that the one of Halloween’s most famous traditions also originates from a mythical drunkard. This is the story of the jack-o’-lantern, the carved…
As this is our 500th post on Lords of the Drinks, we wanted to do a special story. And what better than the great legend of Gambrinus, the King of Beer. You might have seen him before, as he is the fine gentleman you see in the LOTD-logo. This mythical figure was known from folklore tales…
If the Historical Drunkards section has taught us anything it must be that many influential people in the past were quite fond of alcoholic beverages. Things weren’t different in 8th century China during the Tang Dynasty. In fact the eight most brilliant minds of this immense country were quite the wine enthousiasts. The alcohol consumption…
Many old civilizations had Gods for just about everything: the sun, the sea, lightning and often quite a few for alcohol related matters. The Aztecs were no exception. Even though they had very strict laws on alcohol use and abuse, no other tribe or culture had as many ‘Booze Gods’ as the ancient habitants of Mexico. The…
It’s often said that heavy drinking and religion don’t really mix. No matter if we are talking about Muslims who claim alcohol is forbidden in their religion or Christians who refuse to drink the metaphoric blood of Jesus. The common trend is the less intoxication the better. Well not in Guatemala. Besides the usual crosses and statues…
Lords of the Drinks 