Boozy Book Reviews: Makers & Shakers: A Hidden History of Black Americans in Booze
Makers & Shakers A Hidden History of Black Americans in Booze
We reviewed Whiskey Makers in Washington, D.C. by Troy Hughes in 2023, and now he has followed that book up with Makers & Shakers: A Hidden History of Black Americans in Booze (September 23, 2025, The History Press). Hughes was given an old pre-Prohibition whiskey bottle that was found in his home during renovations several years ago, and that started him down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out where it came from and who was making and selling spirits in his Washington, D.C., neighborhood way back when. Afterward, he realized there were no stories about Black Americans’ involvement in the nation’s spirits industry in his neighborhood, and few in the rest of the country, so he set about trying to uncover as much of that history as he could. It was difficult to find much, and some of what he found was very unpleasant, but Hughes feels that it is important to share as much of the history of Black Americans in beverage alcohol as possible.
Maggie Kimberl: What was the catalyst for this book?
Troy Hughes: The catalyst for this book was the promotion of my first book. I write about it in the Preface, about how I was in Louisville at the Black Bourbon Society Boule in Sept 23 giving out samples of our whiskey and also selling my first book "Whiskey Makers in Washington, D.C: A Pre-Prohibition History" which contained no reference or mentions of any black folks, because I couldn't find anything in the records that I had access to about what black folks were doing in or around whiskey or any alcohol in DC during that time. I knew I wanted to find out more and write about what the black experience was as it related to alcohol throughout the history of the nation.
Was it difficult to find sources for the topics you wanted to cover?
Sometimes it was a challenge to find source material for the topics I choose, yes. But I'm still amazed at what I was able to find and what was covered in the newspapers back in the day. The N word abounds in the stories I cover in this book. Finding usable images is probably the biggest challenge. Poking around in the vast Library of Congress archives yielded a few gems.
Was there anything you found in your research that really surprised you?
Troy Hughes
The history that I found adjacent to whatever story about alcohol was fascinating. Such as when I covered the WWI Harlem Hellfighters and their connection to cognac, I stumbled upon a U.S. Army memo to the French military entitled, "Secret Information Concerning Black American Troops." - basically telling the French to not treat the black troops with too much "familiarity or indulgence". Tracking down an original copy of a book from 1899 entitled "Economic Aspects of the Liquor Problem" where over a hundred pages penned by some scholarly white dudes had this to say in the beginning of the work on black and liquor problem, "No reputable author, so far as known, has seized on the liquor habit to explain the source of the most deplorable social traits observable among the present-day Negroes, - shiftlessness and consequent poverty, the development of a distinctly criminal class, and immorality." I mean with an intro like that, how could I not delve deeper into what these guys thought was both the problem, and the answer.
When you found that bottle in your house, did you ever imagine you would end up with a whiskey brand and multiple books about spirits?
Whiskey Makers in Washington, D.C- A Pre-Prohibition History
Yep, when I found that bottle, I knew I had to do something with it. And to be honest, I was done after I made a cool t-shirt with the original label on the front. But then I started to research the guy who produced the original bottle and I found myself going down the rabbit hole of pre-prohibition whiskey players who lived in my neighborhood (Mt. Pleasant, DC). When my friend and neighbor, John Loughner approached with the idea of reviving the brand to put whiskey back in the bottle, I was skeptical, but we found a way, and stumbled into some luck when we found our current batch of whiskey that was made in DC 105 years later and about 100 yards away from where the original Mt. Pleasant Club Whiskey was sold. And by the time the book is out, we will have pulled off our biggest coup thus far - creating and shipping a single barrel bourbon to a client in Sydney, Australia! If you are ever down under, look for our Fernhill Station Single Cask Bourbon Whisky!
What is the main takeaway you want readers to get from this book?
The main takeaway I want readers to get from this book is just that black people have been in and around alcohol from the beginning, we just don't often hear of their stories. This book is the beginning of telling those great stories. Sometimes they are hard to read - given the ugly historical context, but they need to be read and remembered.