A Dash’ll Do Ya
For 30 years I’ve written about how the world drinks, with the last 15 years concentrating on Texas. While researching my book Texas Dives: Enduring Neighborhood Bars of the Lone Star State, out in July, I noticed something peculiar: a saltshaker in a beer joint that didn’t serve food or liquor. The shaker felt out of place at the time, but I would soon discover it was and remains a curious token of beer history.
Surely, some readers recall that folks used to shake table salt directly into beer. Charles Staats, who lives near Seguin and is the Texas chapter president of two brewery collectibles clubs, says, “I’m right at 60 years old and, yeah,
