“Steven Grasse is the mad genius of historical spirits!”--- (Andrea Wulf historian and author of The Invention of Nature, Founding Gardeners, and Chasing Venus)
"Mix up your own tankard of Cock Ale or Rattle Skull and settle in for Steven Grasse’s slightly soused tale of America’s colonial boozing traditions."--- (Joe Sixpack Beer Reporter)
“Colonial Spirits reminds us all that if it wasn’t for the poisonous water, we wouldn’t have booze.” --- (Warren Bobrow The Cocktail Whisperer and author of Apothecary Cocktails)
“A center of brewing and distilling, colonial Philadelphia was the wettest town in the colonies. With punch and Madeira its cultural midwife, along with some of the finest wine cellars in the nation, we still wonder at the glories of rye whisky for which the city was justly famous. Steven Grasse has indeed brought alive the story of our drinking past in a colorful narrative for anyone who enjoys culinary history with glass in hand.” --- (Dr. William Woys Weaver food historian and author of Sauerkraut Yankees)