Virago Spirits will craft historically aligned cocktails for a series of events with the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
There is no denying that alcohol and history are intertwined. Tales of booze and fermentation date back to ancient times, beer was first brewed thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia, and over the centuries humans have sipped various forms of alcohol during events from cultural celebrations to religious rituals and everything in between.
History buff and local distiller Barry Haneberg, co-owner of Richmond’s Virago Spirits, is well versed in alcohol’s status as a social lubricant and the role it has played in shaping civilization. “Drinking is never just about drinking,” he says. “Drinking is about socialization, about everything else that’s going on in society.”
Tapping into that ethos, Virago Spirits is partnering with the Virginia Museum of History & Culture for a quarterly cocktail series that highlights dynamic figures throughout history. Each event will reflect current VMHC exhibitions and programming, with Virago taking cues from the subject areas and relevant eras to craft their beverage menus. Consider the soirees an adults-only, much more engaging version of history class — libations included.
The statue of Clementina Rind in the Virginia Women’s Monument in Capitol Square, Richmond
The first event on Aug. 14 examines the legacy of Clementina Rind, a Colonial-era media leader and Virginia’s first female printer, who inherited and continued publishing the widely read Virginia Gazette newspaper and was responsible for ensuring that Thomas Jefferson’s “A Summary View of the Rights of British America” was printed. Her story is part of VMHC’s exhibition “Give Me Liberty: Virginia & the Forging of a Nation.”
Haneberg notes that Rind’s work was often read, discussed and debated in Virginia taverns and public houses. “The tavern and the inn was the place where everything happened,” he explains. “It’s not like going to a bar on Friday night.”
Haneberg plans to put on his history hat and discuss the power of environments such as taverns and the role they played in Revolutionary War events, what people were drinking, why it was important, and how Clementina Rind was an undeniable force helping to propel it all.
“Clementina, she’s a printer. We can’t overemphasize how important printing was back then … and the importance of tavern culture in the creation of our country,” he says. “People can’t read, so they come in [to the tavern], and someone would read it out loud to other people; that’s how news traveled. She’s a leading part of spreading those ideas. You can’t really overemphasize how important that printing press and reading and all that stuff is for creating a sense of national identity.”
The idea for the series was sparked after the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and Virago Spirits collaborated on the event “Julia Child & the Art of the Cocktail” last summer. Michael Plumb, vice president for guest engagement at VMHC, says the museum team learned quickly that food and beverage tie-ins can attract the masses, and they’re embracing the concept.
“It’s really cool to dig into some of the aspects of history related to food, and then also that Culture part of our name, also talking about the cultural impact of food as it resonates, even today,” Plumb says. “And so that becomes a way that we can ... dig into different aspects of programs that are relatable to people that help them have an entry point they might not otherwise have.”
During the Aug. 14 event, Haneberg will serve four different beverages, including Martha Washington’s Rum Punch, made with Virago’s White and Four-Port rums, curacao, lemon and orange juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove. There will also be a Founding Fathers Punch, featuring Virago’s Four-Port and Cognac Cask-Finished rums, Batavia Arrack rum, lemon juice, black tea, and nutmeg, along with Stone Fence, a rum apple cider concoction spiked with angostura bitters.
Pork pies from Belmont Butchery
Tavern-inspired food pairings are part of the evening, including pork pies with rustic mustard, venison stew, clothbound cheddar with apple, onion compote and jam will be prepared by Belmont Butchery, as well as rustic bread from Sub Rosa Bakery.
The hope is that through these experiences, guests can pay homage to the past while drawing parallels to the present.
Haneberg notes that Rind personified a virago, the namesake for his family-owned distillery.
“A virago is the person that’s not letting others, not letting society, not letting the world define who they are but, rather broadly, goes out and defines themselves to the world,” he says. “This is kind of reclaiming a history of people that, for whatever reason, were marginalized but had a meaningful impact ... and this is a whole new history for us to learn. It’s about telling a variety of stories from a variety of perspectives. And if you think about it, most of what we learn is from a pretty narrow perspective.”
For Haneberg and the Virago Spirits team, the notion of focusing on unsung heroes aligns with their own path. Since launching in 2018, the distillery’s focus has been on traditionally produced spirits including rum and gin.
The subjects of future events in the cocktail series are still to be determined, but the next confirmed exhibition is “We the People,” which highlights the immigrant experience throughout Virginia’s history.
Plumb says, “For us at the museum, there’s almost no end to those stories we can draw from, and because we have this ever-evolving, consistent rotation of special exhibitions, there’s always new stories to tell that tie into that theme. It’s events like this that we hope are helping us reach some new audiences, too, and it’s really exciting for us, too.”
“Defiant Spirits: Exploring the Legacy of Clementina Rind” takes place Thursday, Aug. 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Tickets are $70 for VMHC members and $75 for nonmembers
