To the Mall on the Park, where we love tilt his dark, then sparkling champagne puts

an end to their rain, it quickly recovers poor languishing lovers, makes us frolic and

gay, and drowns all sorrow, but alas, we relapse again on the morrow.

So that Tom is Sir George Etheridge's comedy The Man of Mode in 1676, and as you will know,

that is the first mention of sparkling champagne in all literature, and champagne is very much

on our minds, isn't it? It is, both because of where we are and because of when this is going out.

So it's boxing day, if you're listening to this when it's come out, and the festive season stretches

ahead, we have New Year's Eve, Holcomb and A approaching, and so we thought it would be fun

to look at the history of the drinks that we particularly associate with the festive period,

and Dominic, as you said, we have come to a special location, so we are not talking at each other

down screens, oh, we are literally facing each other and staring into your gorgeous face.

It's actually, Tom is a lot, he's not as he appears on screens, he's a lot less attractive

in the flesh, I have to say. Even more beautiful. So we've come to Berry Brothers,

which was set up in 1698, I think is originally as a kind of general store, and as you

would go and say coffee shop until you were told off. Well, that is what the Bodleian told me,

but apparently it was a general store, and it's in the heart of St James's Clubland, so Dominic,

it's just opposite my club. Your club? Yeah, which is why I'm here in a suit.

But we have a very special guest, and so the reason why, when you read that out, you said

that I would have read it too, is because both of us have been reading an absolutely brilliant book

on the history of alcohol, which is written by Henry Jeffries, and Henry is with us here in

Berry Brothers. In fact, Henry, you suggested this as a location. Yeah, it's the perfect place to

talk about history of booze. And your book, Empire of Booze, I'll just read a quick

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