Growing interest in classic cocktails translates to rising use of spirits and other alcohol in formulations.
Spirits and wine have evolved with every culture, from sake in ancient Asia, to mead in early Europe and rum in the Caribbean. As civilizations developed and mobilized, spirits that were once regional spread across the globe and food preparers began to experiment with them as additions to cookery. Early culinary leaders, such as Marie-Antoine Carême of France, began cooking with wine and distilled spirits in the early 1800s.
In one of the ultimate cooking guides, Le Guide Culinaire (originally published in 1903), August Escoffier modernized Carême’s elaborate cuisine and wrote of demi glaçes laced with fortified wines such as sherry, port and Madeira, writing, “[T]he addition of a particular wine naturally changes the flavor and character of the demi glace and will decide its ultimate use.”