The cocktail, old and new
The Food Programme
BBC
4.4 • 977 Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2013
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dan Saladino explores the cocktail, a story which begins with 18th century Indian punch and keeps on evolving with new wave flavours being developed in the bars of New York , London, Bristol and Manchester.
After years of being out of fashion and misunderstood, the cocktail is making a comeback. Drinks that had been forgotten for decades, like the Sidecar, the Old Fashioned and the Manhattan have returned as a new generation is discovering the pleasures of a cold, expertly mixed drink.
Cocktail expert Nick Strangeway explains that the renaissance is largely down to drinks "following on the coat tails" of wider changes in food in Britain. Meanwhile, television programmes like Sex in the City and Mad Men have excited the imagination of a generation less familiar with the Martini and Bloody Mary.
Joe Carlin, author of Cocktails: A Global History provides some insights into why the cocktail became so successful in 19th century America and why it still endures to this day.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You don't need us to tell you there's a general election coming. |
| 0:04.6 | So what does it mean for you? |
| 0:06.4 | Every day on newscast we dissect the big talking points, |
| 0:10.1 | the ones that you want to know more about. |
| 0:12.3 | With our book of contacts, we talk directly to the people you want to hear from. |
| 0:16.8 | And with help from some of the best BBC journalists, |
| 0:19.4 | we'll untangle the stories that matter to you. |
| 0:23.0 | Join me, Laura Kunsberg, Adam Fleming, Chris Mason and Patty O'Connell for our daily podcast. |
| 0:29.0 | Newscast, listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:32.0 | Hello, I'm Sheila Dylan and welcome to this BBC download of the Food Program. |
| 0:39.0 | For information on the BBC's terms and conditions of use, |
| 0:42.0 | visit W.W. dot BBC. the BBC's terms and conditions of use visit |
| 0:42.8 | W.W. dot BBC.co. UK slash radio four. |
| 0:48.4 | When I drink a cocktail I sort of go into an altered state. I relax. My shoulders drop. I sit back in the chair. |
| 1:04.1 | I feel totally at ease. |
| 1:08.2 | That's what a cocktail does for me. |
| 1:10.3 | I think the cocktail is the most civilizing beverage on the planet. |
| 1:15.0 | I meant to love. |
| 1:18.0 | I meant to love. |
| 1:20.0 | I meant to love. |
| 1:21.0 | I meant you love you love. I met you love. Oh, I met you love was the cause of it all. |
| 1:30.0 | In telling the story of the cocktail a mint julub was almost the cause of it all. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.