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Folger Institute Mixology

Cocktail glasses on a bar

Our “Mixology” series draws on the Folger’s rich collection of handwritten recipe books from early modern Britain—the largest in the world—to examine the early modern era and connect it with the present. The ingredients listed within these books for drinks, potions, cordials, and more speak to the role of recipes in providing sustenance, medicine, and care. They also speak to histories of labor, exploitation, and survival.

Together, let’s look more deeply into our cocktail glasses to rethink how we research and talk about recipes.

About the Folger Institute

The Folger Institute is a center for early modern research at the Folger Shakespeare Library that brings public audiences together with researchers to explore the cultures and legacies of the early modern world. Learn more.

Public Humanities at the Folger Institute

Coming Soon!

Mixology: Game Night
People cheering around a table as someone rolls dice

Mixology: Game Night

Welcome! Wand’rer, to "Mixology: Game Night!" Join special guest Luis Carazo and our neighbors at Labyrinth Games and Puzzles for a truly unique evening of RPG, board games, and, of course, cocktails.
Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 6pm
Folger Library

Mixology: How Alchemy Gave Us Alcohol

Without alchemy there would be no mixology. No cocktails, no spirits, no liqueurs! At our October 2024 trivia night we explored esoteric views, searched for the fifth essence, and leaned in on the hot debate—can lead be turned into gold? A fashion-show style costume contest and tarot readings with Skye Marinda Tarot made for a unique Halloween season event!

Alchemy, aqua vitae, and Mixology: How alchemy gave us liquor
Shakespeare and Beyond

Alchemy, aqua vitae, and Mixology: How alchemy gave us liquor

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Author
Ashley Buchanan

Without alchemy there would be no mixology. No cocktails, no spirits, no liqueurs, no essences! Dive into the history of alchemy and distillation, with two cocktail recipes.

High spirits: Alchemy in Elizabethan England
Shakespeare and Beyond

High spirits: Alchemy in Elizabethan England

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Author
Jennifer Rampling

Jennifer Rampling, a Princeton history professor and author of The Experimental Fire: Inventing English Alchemy, 1300–1700, explores alchemy in Shakespeare’s England.

Mixology (TV) Presents: Shakespeare for Swifties

Is Taylor Swift the Shakespeare of our time? For this “cruel summer” program, the Folger Institute explored the poetry, literary devices, and early modern allusions of Swift’s discography. If you missed our trivia night, don’t let “your saddest fears come creeping in.” We are sharing three Taylor-themed cocktails inspired by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century recipes from our collection. Enjoy these drinks at home while watching the Eras Tour or sip while testing your knowledge of two of the world’s greatest poets with our “Who said it, Shakespeare or Taylor?” quiz.

Shax it Off: Taylor Swift-themed cocktails inspired by recipes in our collection
Martini cocktail glass splashing on dark toned smoky background or colorful cocktail in glass with splashes and lemon.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shax it Off: Taylor Swift-themed cocktails inspired by recipes in our collection

Posted
Author
Ashley Buchanan

Three Taylor Swift-themed cocktails inspired by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century recipes from our collection.

Taylor Swift and Shakespeare
Two images side by side to form a single banner image: at left, Taylor Swift on stage playing a guitar, and at right, a period illustration from about the 19th century of Shakespeare lying down outdoors beside a tree, with his head lifted on one arm as he gazes thoughtfully at the ground
Shakespeare and Beyond

Taylor Swift and Shakespeare

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Author
Stephanie Burt

“Lend me your ears”: Harvard English professor Stephanie Burt explores the songs and songwriting of Shakespeare and Taylor Swift.

Drink like it’s 1699

Ingredients for early modern recipes took winding, diverse, and sometimes troubling pathways. By funding research, partnering with industry experts, and engaging with public audiences, the Folger Institute uses early modern recipes as an entry point for studying the important histories of Gender, Sexuality, Class, and Race. Our September 2023 trivia night at local Barracks Row restaurant Crazy Aunt Helen’s invited participants to “drink like it’s 1699” with four bespoke cocktails inspired by our research cornerstones.

Four Cocktails Inspired by the Folger Collection
Folger Spotlight

Four Cocktails Inspired by the Folger Collection

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Learn more about—and how to make!—the four cocktails featured at Folger Institute’s upcoming Mixology event.

Mixology and Memorie

In this three-part Mixology blog series, we heard from two DC mixologists, a scholar, and a local Ayurvedic Doctor about the brain-boosting powers of coriander, an ingredient often featured in early modern recipes for “memorie potions.” This deep dive into the theme of memory was part of the April 2023 “Searching for Shakespeare” celebration of the 400th anniversary of the printing of the First Folio, in partnership with DC Public Library.

Love-in-Idleness

To accompany the Folger’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the National Building Museum in summer 2022, Dr. Marissa Nicosia explored the uses of the love-in-idleness flower, also known as heartsease or, more commonly today, the pansy. In Shakespeare’s play, this flower is used to interweave the language of love and remedy, intoxication and danger, sweetness and excess. Add all this and more to your next cocktail with Dr. Nicosia’s recipe for Heartsease Cordial!

Love-in-idleness, Part One: Adapting an early modern recipe for heartsease cordial
purple pansy floating in pink cocktail
Shakespeare and Beyond

Love-in-idleness, Part One: Adapting an early modern recipe for heartsease cordial

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Author
Marissa Nicosia

Marissa Nicosia adapts an early modern recipe for heartsease cordial. This purple pansy syrup was used to “clear the heart” – to treat the chest and lungs or to reduce fever – but also for healing heartaches.

Love-in-idleness, Part Two: Intoxicating botanicals in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'
Oberon and Titania
Shakespeare and Beyond

Love-in-idleness, Part Two: Intoxicating botanicals in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'

Posted
Author
Marissa Nicosia

Love-in-idleness, a flower also called pansy or heartsease, plays an important role in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” as Marissa Nicosia explores.