Biography

Elizabeth M. Williams is founder and president of the Southern Food and Beverage Institute, a member of the Louisiana Folklife Commission, and coauthor of The Encyclopedia of Law and Food and author of New Orleans: A Food Biography.

Schedule

12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.
State Capitol, Senate Committee Room E
Book Talk
Lift Your Spirits

1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Bookselling Tent
Book Signing

Lift Your Spirits: A Celebratory History of Cocktail Culture in New Orleans

The Sazerac, the Hurricane, and the absinthe glass of Herbsaint are among the many well-known creations native to New Orleans’s longstanding drinking culture. But more than vehicles for alcohol, the cocktails and spirits that complement the city’s culinary prowess are each a token of its history. In every bar-side toast or street-corner daiquiri you can find evidence of the people, politics, and convergence of ethnicities that drive the story of the Crescent City.

In Lift Your Spirits: A Celebratory History of Cocktail Culture in New Orleans, Elizabeth M. Williams, founder and director of the Southern Food and Beverage Institute, and world-renowned bartender Chris McMillian illuminate the city’s open embrace of alcohol, both in religious and secular life, while delving into the myths, traditions, and personalities that have made New Orleans a destination for imbibing tourists and a mecca for mixologists.

With over 40 cocktail recipes interspersed among nearly three hundred years of history, a sampling of premier cocktail bars in New Orleans, and a glossary of terms to aid drink making and mixing, Lift Your Spirits honors the art of a good drink in the city of good times.