LOCAL AUTHOR PUBLISHES BOOK ABOUT HISTORIC HAUNTS IN BUCKHEAD AND BEYOND!
Writer Caroline Eubanks, author of the travel guide This Is My South, released her second book, A Boozy History of Atlanta: People, Places & Drinks that Made a City, this spring. Published by The History Press, the book presents a fresh perspective on the city’s past, delving into the intertwined history of Atlanta and its relationship with alcohol, from the early colonial days to the modern craft cocktail scene.
Eubanks, a food, spirits and travel writer, noticed a gap in the literary landscape. “I do a lot of articles about drinking history in other places, but I never saw much of Atlanta’s past,” she says. The book’s journey begins with colonial Georgia and traces the drinking habits and interests of early settlers. She highlights the initial struggles with winemaking, the emergence of beer as a safer alternative to water and the eventual arrival and subsequent banning of rum due to its “wild” influence.
Of course, Buckhead and its surrounding neighborhoods provide a backdrop to Atlanta’s formative drinking years, and Eubanks pinpoints significant current and long-gone landmarks like Dante’s Down the Hatch, The Limelight, Northside Tavern and Johnny’s Hideaway. “Johnny’s is walking back in time. It feels like you’re in the Disco era, especially for those of us who did not get to live through it. It’s a place to feel like you were part of it,” Eubanks says.
Eubanks also observes and notes Atlanta’s broadening cocktail landscape. “We’re starting to see more bars doing cool things,” she says, mentioning the “cool factor sprawl” of OTP spots beyond Atlanta proper, like Okay Anny’s in Dunwoody. She notes the state’s roots in beer, rum and peach brandy but says she also sees a burgeoning future for whiskey. “We have the ingredients that make for good whiskey. We have the corn, and we have the water; we have everything Kentucky has. I think the whiskey reputation is just getting started, it’s something we will see more of as time goes on,” she says. A Boozy History of Atlanta is available at Barnes & Noble for $24.99.
carolineeubanks.com
@cairinthecity
