{"id":297955,"date":"2026-10-01T23:06:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/297955\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T23:06:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:06:06","slug":"sip-through-phillys-boozy-history-with-new-tasting-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/297955\/","title":{"rendered":"Sip through Philly\u2019s boozy history with new tasting series"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s time to raise a glass to history<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks, also known as PhilaLandmarks<\/a>, recently launched Spirits of Independence \u2014 a lecture and tasting series that explores the brews, wines, and spirits that shaped Philadelphia. <\/p>\n

Each event in the series will see a selection of experts \u2014 including historical booze enthusiast and author Steven Grasse; scholar and author Jordan Smith; and Rare Wine Company\u2019s Mannie Berk and Aaron Nix-Gomez \u2014 discuss history while guests sip on complimentary beverages made using colonial-minded recipes.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeeply entwined in the history of Philadelphia, and our country, are the drinks that early civilians produced, imported, exported, and consumed,\u201d says Kayla Anthony, Executive Director of PhilaLandmarks. \u201cWe\u2019re grateful to work with beverage partners who bring that experience to life \u2014 as accurately as possible \u2014 for our guests to enjoy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The series launched on Sept. 18 at Grumblethorpe, a 1744 home and estate built by wine merchant John Wister, who imported wine from Germany. Wister, the landlord of Benjamin Franklin<\/a>, also made fruit wines here in Pennsylvania. Scholar David Hancock, who is an expert on the wine trade of the colonies, gave a talk on Wister and his place in the wine trade in colonial America while guests tasted relevant wines. <\/p>\n

Upcoming talks will take place on Oct. 16, Nov. 20, and Dec. 13.\u00a0 Here’s what you can expect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Madeira in Colonial America \u2014 Oct. 16<\/p>\n

Henry Hill, who built the Hill-Physick House, was a patriot and a Madeira importer. The vast majority of wine imported into the colonies during the revolutionary period was Madeira, and was being drunk in homes and taverns across the colonies. <\/p>\n

Mannie Berk of the Rare Wine Company and Madeira historian, Aaron Nix-Gomez, have collaborated for close to 15 years in unraveling the history of Madeira from early days until now. <\/p>\n

During the Oct. 16 event, they will focus on how Madeira was purchased and consumed in America in the 18th and 19th centuries to understand how it came to be the most coveted wine in this country. Madeira wine tasting is included.<\/p>\n

Hill-Physick House,<\/a> 321 S. 4th St.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Porter in Colonial America \u2014 Nov. 20<\/p>\n

Porter was the brew of choice for many in the colonial era, and the Powel family was connected to the most renowned brewer of porter at the time, Robert Hare. <\/p>\n

During this event, Steve Grasse, the author of ‘Colonial Spirits: A Toast to Our Drunken History<\/a>,’ will give a talk about the importance of porter in the colonial era and the experience of brewing porter from a colonial recipe. Guests will taste and take home a serving of a colonial-style porter made by My Local Brew Works in the style of the famed recipe created by Hare.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Powel House,<\/a> 244 S. 3rd St. #1811<\/p>\n

The Colonial Rum Trade \u2014 Dec. 13<\/p>\n

General Anthony Wayne traded animal hides for rum to keep the troops of the Continental Army supplied. <\/p>\n

In his historic home, scholar Jordan Smith, author of ‘The Invention of Rum<\/a>,’ a definitive history of the topic in the colonial period, will discuss the importance of the rum trade in the colonial era. A tasting of a historic rum punch recipe is included.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Historic Waynesborough<\/a>, 2049 Waynesborough Road, Paoli<\/p>\n

If you go…\u00a0<\/p>\n

All events will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at philalandmarks.org<\/a>. Guests must be 21+ to attend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information about the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks, visit \u00a0PhilaLandmarks.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MORE: Drink with the dead: Brew N\u2019 History returns to Christ Church Burial Ground<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\tKeywords<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tSpirits of Independence,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t PhilaLandmarks,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philadelphia history,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t colonial history,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t things to do,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Hill-Physick House,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Powel House,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Historic Waynesborough\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s time to raise a glass to history.\u00a0 The Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks, also known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[122995,122996,122998,69,71,15989,70,122994,122997,122993,289],"class_list":["post-297955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-colonial-history","tag-hill-physick-house","tag-historic-waynesborough","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-history","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-philalandmarks","tag-powel-house","tag-spirits-of-independence","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}