The social life of Alexandria once revolved around the taverns of Old Town. In these establishments, businessmen made deals as sailors chartered passengers and hucksters plied the willing. All of this, of course, was lubricated by the social balm of alcohol.
“Yes, it’s true,” said Liz Williams, assistant director at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum. “When people think about taverns, they tend to think of alcoholic beverages.”
For four weeks in October, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum will host a series of lectures exploring the drinking and eating habits of colonial times. Named the John Yagerline Lecture Series after Alexandria’s late town crier, it will explore a diverse set of topics. Beer experts Don and Betsy Yates will speak about ginger beer and root beer. Gabriele Rausse, associate director of gardens and grounds at Monticello, will deliver a lecture on Virginia wines. Frank Clark, supervisor of foodways at Colonial Williamsburg, will take up the indispensable topic of ale. And local businessman Robert Kingsbury will explain the sweet history of chocolate.
“It’s a different spin on history,” Williams said. “This series will give people a good idea of how people ate and drank in the 18th century.”
IN COLONIAL TIMES, the beer that we know and love today — a mixture of hops and barley — was known as ale. Beer, by contrast, was made from roots. According to Don and Betsy Yates, authors of “Ginger Beer and Root Beer Heritage,” the popularity of beer made from ginger root dates back for centuries in England.
“It’s similar to a nice champagne,” said Don Yates, who lives with his wife and fellow researcher in Homerville, Ohio. “It’s bubbly, and it’s got all those nice characteristics.”
Here in Virginia, the refinement of ginger beer yielded to American ingenuity. Americans made beer from any root they could get their hands on — including sassafras, sarsaparilla and wintergreen. The nutrients it took from the rich North American soils gave each variety a local flavor in much the same way that European wines are a blend of regional grape varieties.
“Root beer was invented in the United States,” Yates said. “So this is something that’s really an American invention.”
CHOCOLATE HOUSES, on the other hand, were a staple of refined European sensibilities. According to local businessman Rob Kingsbury, Virginia was far too hardscrabble to host the kind of chocolate houses that became a staple of many European communities.
“They were kind of like coffeehouses, only with chocolate,” Kingsbury said. “It was a very social thing.”
Kingsbury’s lecture will explore the history of chocolate, tracing its Spanish origins to the development of chocolate houses in the 18th century. He’ll talk about its health benefits and explain how the luscious treat is made. Guests will be able to sample regional varieties from South America and nibble on roasted cocoa bean nibs.
“Eating the bean nibs will give you an idea of the starting point for chocolate,” Kingsbury said. “They’re kind of dry, with a powdery finish.”
Tasting samples will allow participants to discern subtle differences between chocolate varieties — the hints of plum from of a Venezuelan chocolate versus the bitter undertones of a block from Equador. Ultimately, he said, his lecture will be a rewarding conclusion to the series.
“In a word, it’ll be delicious,” he said.