I took a historical bar tour through Boston and saw the American Revolution in a whole new way.
Key Takeaways
- Boston’s Revolutionary-era taverns were more than places to drink—they served as gathering spots where political ideas spread, alliances formed, and plans for events like the Boston Tea Party took shape.
- Historian Brooke Barbier’s Ye Olde Tavern Tours pairs stops along the Freedom Trail with local beers and historically inspired cocktails to show how alcohol influenced colonial society, politics, and the American Revolution.
- Boston bars are reviving colonial-era drinks, from milk punch and sangaree to small beer, inspired by George Washington’s writings, giving visitors a chance to experience Revolutionary history through the city’s drinking culture.
“H-U-Z-Z-A-H.”
Brooke Barbier spells out the word as we begin our tour around Boston. “Huzzah! Not Cheers.” Mind you, the famed Cheers bar is just a five-minute walk down Beacon Street from where we are on Boston Common, but Barbier is more interested in the taverns of the 1770s than a bar that inspired a 1980s sitcom.
She then points up the grassy hill to the left side of the Massachusetts State House. “John Hancock’s house was 50 yards from here,” she says. That begins a colorful tangent about how the wealthy Bostonian used lavish displays of hospitality to curry political favor…