Back in the 1700s, when little baby America split off from England, as far as Europeans

were concerned, high culture didn't make the trip across the pond.

Yeah, we just weren't seeing this as good as we weren't as fashionable, we weren't as

literate, we weren't as good at anything.

Basically, they thought our painters, they thought everything we were doing was crap,

except for cocktails.

But even gaining this minimal amount of respect took time, because American mixology started

in part with a type of mixed drink that Europeans thought of as truly trashy.

The hot ale flip, a drink made of ale, rum, spices, eggs, and finished with a red hot

fire poker.

I'm Dylan Therese and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible

and wondrous places.

And today we're taking a step back in time to visit the taverns of colonial America and

take a frothy sip of the hot ale flip.

That's after this.

If the idea of mixing beer, rum, and eggs together doesn't sound particularly tasty,

well, I can understand it.

Describing to someone is like, oh, it's like sweet hot beer with spices, sounds awful,

but the less than I had it, I remember it being very tasty.

That's culinary historian and author Sarah Lomon.

Very quickly, here's Lomon's recipe for the hot ale flip.

It's basically a quick simple syrup made of brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.

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