Exploring Jewish drinking wisdom
[UPDATE FOR 2026] A question that I frequently encounter is where can one purchase kosher-certified vermouth? This question frequently occurs due to vermouth being largely wine-based and, therefore, subject to concerns about gentile wine, thus requiring kosher-certification. While one can generally find Kedem’s dry vermouth or sweet vermouth in the US, in case you are […]
For business, people sometimes have to travel. For some, that may mean travelling for long periods of time, as some Jewish traders in the twelfth century experienced. Ultimately, though, what did they drink? To explore these questions, the 89th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features Professor Elizabeth Lambourn discussing what alcohol did Jewish traders […]
Haven’t seen the 88th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show featuring Maggie Kimberl yet? If not, feel free to check out these two clips from the episode:
Despite what we may think about distilling in America, in general, and Bourbon, in particular, Jews have been involved in significant ways in American distilling history. The focus of the 88th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show is exactly that: Jews in American distilling history. The featured guest to discuss this topic is Maggie Kimberl, who […]
I am glad to share that I not only have made video clips available from yesterday’s episode of The Jewish Drinking Show, but even some extended video clips that didn’t fully make it into the episode. Hayyei Adam on Purim-Drinking Birkat HaMazon and Drinking in the Hayyei Adam (Extended Clip) Introduction to Rabbi Avraham Danzig and […]
The 87th episode of The Jewish Drinking Show features Dashiell Ferguson discussing drinking in Rabbi Avraham Danzig‘s חיי אדם (hayyei Adam “A Person’s Life”). This work was published in 1810 and was not only a useful handbook for Jewish practice in the 19th century, but also was used as an important source for later works […]
Four new resources have been launched to help kosher-concerned consumers consider kosher drinks. Specifically, these pages are on beer wine whiskey whiskey aged in containers that previously held gentile wine (e.g. Scotch in Sherry casks) While these resources are still quite new, I welcome any feedback, suggestions, questions, or more at Drew [at] JewishDrinking.com.
[Editor’s Note: the 2023 list announcement is here]According to their website, the Chicago Rabbinical Council has updated their kosher liquor list today. Categories include American whiskey, bar stock items, beer, Bourbon, brandy, Canadian whisky, Cognac, gin, hard cider, hard seltzer, Irish whiskey, liqueur, mead, rum, rye whiskey, sake, Scotch, tequila, vermouth, vodka, and other alcoholic […]
I finally decided to order Wine, Whisky & Halachah so that I could read it and see what was inside of it. It had first appeared on my radar when I saw a review of it in the spring 2020 issue of Jewish Action (pp. 104-105 by Rabbi Eli Gersten), but I was finally moved […]
Having shared the great opportunity for the first-ever Booze in the Holy Land trip a month ago, we were very excited for the first such trip in just a few months. However, owing to recent challenges to finalize logistics with the uncertainty caused by the newest variant of COVID-19, we are having to reschedule the […]
