In our office, we received a box with three fruity Johny Bootlegger liquors that can be excellent bases for cocktails or can be sipped as after-dinner drinks. Included in the box was also a metal flask just like the ones the “fellers” used to carry in their hip pockets and “dames” used to tuck in their garters during the unfortunate American experiment in abstinence known as “Prohibition.” The Johny Bootlegger story started during this time.
The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – which banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors – officially went into effect on January 17, 1920, with the passage of the Volstead Act. It was passed under the influence and support of the American Temperance Society as drafted by the head of the Anti-Saloon League. It was a tough enforcement act, which was then sponsored by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Andrew Volstead.
As a result, there was an increase in the illegal production, importation, and sale of liquor known as “bootlegging” and illegal drinking spots known as “speakeasies.” This corresponded with a rise in major American cities of racketeering, gang violence, murders, hijackings, bribing of officials, and other crimes, which led to less support for Prohibition as time passed by.
In early 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing the 21st Amendment to the Constitution that repealed the 18th. The 21st Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933, ending Prohibition. But the damage had already been done, especially in the country’s large urban centers, where respect for the law, the police, and the judicial system had plummeted.
Additionally, Prohibition became the prelude to the Great Depression, the longest and deepest economic downturn in the history of the United States.
Johny was, supposedly, an “entrepreneur” who was doing a stretch in Sing Sing Prison when he had the idea for creating speakeasies or private drinking clubs where people could go, socialize, dance, flirt and imbibe. A few of the most famous eateries and clubs in Manhattan like the 21 Club, Chumley’s on Bedford Street, the Back of Ratner’s at the corner of Norfolk and Delancey, and many others became legendary speakeasies during that time.
The Johny Bootlegger liquors we received were Alcatraz Sour Apple, Sing Sing Sour Grape, and Syndicate City Sour Peach. Those and many other fruity tipples in the Bootlegger line have been inspired by the legendary Johny and can be bought (and not stolen, please) from your local liquor store or ordered in non-dry-areas online from the Geloso Beverage Group of Rochester, New York.
In addition to the cocktails, they can also be used instead of a syrup over ice cream or a fruit slushy, as well as to flavor fruit salads and other fruit-based desserts.
We did enjoy sipping these drinks and thought that, all things considered, they were not that bad as an addition to a glass of seltzer. Enjoy!
Manos Angelakis is one of the founders, the former Managing Editor for 25 years, the current Managing Editor Emeritus, and Senior Food & Wine Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. He is an accomplished travel writer, photographer, and food and wine critic based in Hackensack, New Jersey. As a travel writer, he has written extensively about numerous cities and countries. Manos has also been certified as a Tuscan Wine Master and has traveled to wine-producing areas in order to evaluate firsthand the product of top-rated vineyards. In the past year, he has visited and written multiple articles about Morocco, Turkey, Quebec City, Switzerland, Antarctica, and most recently the South of France. Articles in other publications include Vision Times and Epoch Times.
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