Free Republic

'You get some gin and get some white raisins — and only white raisins — and soak them in the gin for two weeks. Then eat nine of the raisins a day'...

Chelsea Clinton fed tabloid speculation that she and her boyfriend Ian Klaus were no longer together when she showed up without him at a party Tuesday night at Eyebeam Atelier, held for the new Beefeater gin Wet. Chelsea did seem chummy with Evan Metropoulos, son of Pinnacle Foods' chairman Dean Metropoulos and generally known as the Bumble Bee Tuna heir. A source says they're "just friends." Entertaining the former First Daughter (and new McKinsey & Co. consultant) was burlesque queen Dita Von Teese, the girlfriend of rocker Marilyn Manson. Von Teese stripped down to a glittery thong and bra, and...

One brand of gin, the Dutch drink par excellence, has fans in an unlikely corner of the world – West Africa. It's especially popular in Ghana, and not only for drinking. Number one in the Ghanaian gin market is the Dutch distiller Bols, from the town of Schiedam. The distillery exports some 63,000 litres of gin annually to Ghana. Bols produces an extra strong blend of gin especially for the West African market, with an alcohol percentage of 42%. The drink is sold under the name Henkes Schnaps, and is so popular that a Bols employee in Ghana has...