Alcohol has been at the center of history since the beginning. A Drinking Story reexamines the world's most pivotal moments through the lens of what was being poured — because the drink always tells the real story.
This isn't Drunk History. This is something different. These are the moments in time that were directly shaped by imbibing — when beer, wine, or liquor affected the historical outcome.
The Battle of New Orleans was planned in a bar between a pirate and a general, and over drinks, an unlikely alliance was formed. The British outnumbered the Americans, but they weren't prepared for the combined forces of militia, smugglers, pirates, frontiersmen, free men of color, and Choctaw warriors. Spoiler alert: General Pakenham went home in a barrel of rum, and the Americans went home legends.
Melissa and Sam trace the full story: Jean Laffite's smuggling empire, the myth of the blacksmith shop bar, the whiskey-for-a-sniper deal, and the coffee houses of the French Quarter that were really bars all along. Plus - what New Orleans was actually drinking in 1815, and why it matters.
A Drinking Story - when history was drunk, and what they were drinking when they were.
16 May 2026
A Story About Vodka's Butterfly Effect: Boris Yeltsin
A sitting world leader was found on Pennsylvania Avenue. In his underwear. Drunk. Demanding a pizza. This is not the scandal. The scandal is what came next.
Boris Yeltsin — Russia's first elected president and the man who dismantled the Soviet Union — spent the 1990s visibly, spectacularly drunk while Russian democracy collapsed around him. Behind the chaos, he was handing power to a quiet former KGB agent to save himself from prosecution. That man did not waste the gift.
Melissa breaks down the Yeltsin drunk timeline and the political aftermath that shaped modern Russia. Sam breaks down vodka — its history, its cultural grip, and why it was never just a drink in Russian political life.
Cold War. Soviet collapse. Oligarchs. The rise of authoritarianism. One drinking problem changed everything.
A Drinking Story — when history was drunk, and what they were drinking when they were.
Sources
1. Boris Yeltsin — Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Yeltsin
2. The Peculiar Truth About Boris Yeltsin — Medium https://medium.com/the-peculiar-truth/the-peculiar-truth-about-boris-yeltsin-77a87c645a8e
3. No. 10 Feared Boris Yeltsin Was Drinking Himself to Death — The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/no-10-feared-cuddly-bear-boris-yeltsin-was-drinking-himself-to-death-bprnct5qr
4. Yeltsin Restores State Monopoly on Alcohol — Jamestown Foundation https://jamestown.org/yeltsin-restores-state-monopoly-on-alcohol/
5. Boris Yeltsin — NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18273852
6. Boris Yeltsin — ABC News https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=82447&page=1
7. Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin's 1994 State Visit — History.com https://www.history.com/articles/bill-clinton-boris-yeltsin-drunk-1994-russian-state-visit
8. Launching the Clinton Administration's Russia Policy — National Security Archive https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2023-02-07/launching-clinton-administration-russia-policy-1993
9. Russia's Failure of Democracy — Carnegie Endowment https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2016/06/the-road-from-1996-russias-failure-of-democracy
10. Why Russia's Democracy Never Began — Davis Center, Harvard https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/insights/why-russias-democracy-never-began
11. The Legacy of Boris Yeltsin — RUSI https://www.rusi.org/publication/legacy-boris-yeltsin
12. Kellogg Institute Working Paper on Russian Democracy — Notre Dame https://kellogg.nd.edu/sites/default/files/old_files/documents/352_0.pdf
13. Putin Is Perfecting the Authoritarian Model — The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/article/156987/putin-perfecting-authoritarian-model
14. The Constitutional Dark Arts Spreading from Russia — Lowy Institute https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/constitutional-dark-arts-spreading-russia-world
Want to Understand Trump's US? Look at Putin's Russia — Democracy for Sale https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/want-to-understand-trumps-us-look-putin-russia-oligarchy-autocracy
25 Apr 2026
The Night Lincoln Was Shot… and Everyone Was Drinking
April 14, 1865. Five days after the Civil War effectively ended, Abraham Lincoln went to Ford's Theatre expecting a night of laughter.
Washington, D.C. was in full celebration mode. Saloons were packed. Victory drinks were flowing. And next door to the theater, at the crowded Star Saloon, two men connected to history's most infamous crime moved through the same room: Lincoln's bodyguard and his killer, John Wilkes Booth.
This week on A Drinking Story, we examine how alcohol didn't cause the assassination—but helped create the conditions around it. From Booth's heavy brandy habit, to a policeman drinking instead of guarding the President, to a co-conspirator who got drunk and lost his nerve, this is the story of one of America's darkest nights through the lens of what everyone was drinking.
A Drinking Story — when history was drunk, and what they were drinking when they were.
Sources & Further Reading
Ford's Theatre. History of Ford's Theatre / Lincoln's Assassination. https://fords.org/lincolns-assassination/history-of-fords-theatre/
Smithsonian Magazine. Lincoln's Missing Bodyguard. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lincolns-missing-bodyguard-12932069/
Oakland University Digital Collections. Archival PDF Collection Related to Lincoln Assassination Era Sources. https://digitalcollections.library.oakland.edu/files/original/26011c0b48717f53765b209aa645cf76d504bc4f.pdf
Playbill. The Night Lincoln Was Shot: Minute by Minute Backstage with John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre. https://playbill.com/article/the-night-lincoln-was-shot-minute-by-minute-backstage-with-john-wilkes-booth-at-fords-theatre-com-346483
National Park Service. Ford's Theatre Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.nps.gov/foth/learn/historyculture/faq-fords-theatre.htm
History.com. What Lincoln Said in His Final Speech. https://www.history.com/articles/what-lincoln-said-in-his-final-speech
NAACP. Legislative Milestones: Voting Rights Act of 1965. https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/legislative-milestones/voting-rights-act-1965/
1 Apr 2026
A Story about Beer Building the Pyramids
Beer is older than writing, older than money, and older than the wheel. It wasn't just a drink — it built civilizations. Literally. We know ancient aliens and enslaved labor didn't build the Egyptian Pyramids because of beer. Archaeologists found the receipts right at the base: barracks, bakeries, clinics, and an industrial size brewery. And that's just where the story starts.
History didn't happen in spite of drinking. It happened because of it.
Melissa Huston is an Annapolis-based historian and storyteller. Her husband Sam Huston is a beverage industry specialist covering the Mid-Atlantic market who has spent his career inside the world of what people drink and why. Together they're connecting the glass in your hand to the history nobody taught you in school.
A Drinking Story — when history was drunk, and what they were drinking when they were.
Sources & Further Reading
Smithsonian Magazine — The World's Oldest Industrial-Scale Brewery Found in Egypt https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/worlds-oldest-industrial-scale-brewery-found-egypt-180977026/
Smithsonian Magazine — The Beer Archaeologist https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-beer-archaeologist-17016372/
Nautilus — How to Make the Bread That Fueled the Pyramids https://nautil.us/how-to-make-the-bread-that-fueled-the-pyramids-1223483/
Atlas Obscura — Ancient Egyptian Cocktails https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ancient-egyptians-cocktails
British Museum — Sip Through History: Ancient Egyptian Beer https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/sip-history-ancient-egyptian-beer
Princeton University — Archaeological Team Identifies World's Oldest Industrial Brewery https://www.princeton.edu/news/2021/02/16/archaeological-team-co-led-princetons-vischak-identifies-worlds-oldest-industrial
Harvard Gazette — Excavation Unearths Ancient Egyptian Brewery https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/10/excavation-unearths-ancient-egyptian-brewery/
VinePair — Workers Were Paid With Beer 5,000 Years Ago https://vinepair.com/booze-news/workers-were-paid-with-beer-5000-years-ago/
The Drinks Business — Ancient Egyptians Used "I'm Brewing" as an Excuse to Skip Work https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/06/ancient-egyptians-used-im-brewing-as-an-excuse-to-skip-work/
Pass the Flamingo — Ancient Recipe: Egyptian Beer https://passtheflamingo.com/2017/03/29/ancient-recipe-egyptian-beer-egypt-ca-5000-bce/
By John Roach — Abydos Brewery https://byjohnroach.com/abydos-brewery/ (https://byjohnroach.com/abydos-brewery/)
20 Mar 2026
A Drinking Story - NEW season starting soon
Alcohol and human society have been together for at least 13,000 years.
And in that time, drinking has built empires, started wars, toppled governments and shaped the course of history.
Hi. I'm Melissa Huston. And this is A Drinking Story — about when history was drunk, and what they were drinking when they were.
This isn't Drunk History. This is something different. These are the moments in time that were directly shaped by imbibing. When beer, wine or liquor effected the historical outcome.
With me will be Sam Huston, an expert from the spirits industry, who will be breaking down what they were drinking, how they were drinking it, and where they got it from.
One story at a time, we're going to look at global politics, religion, war, sports, art and culture — through the lens of booze.
A Drinking Story. New Season starting soon. Subscribe and Follow.
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