Chapter VI: Preface (6)

For this, which is only a superior sort of white spruce beer, proceed
as follows: To every gallon of water take 1½ lbs. of honey, and ½
a pound of fine starch. The starch, however, previously to its being
blended with the honey, liquor, or syrup, must be reduced to a fine
transparent jelly, by boiling it with part of the water purposely
preserved. A quarter of a pound of essence of spruce may be used to
6 gallons of water; and the same method may be pursued in working,
fining, and bottling, as directed for white spruce beer.

Spruce is a wholesome and pleasant drink to those who are used to it,
and persons soon become habituated. It contains a vast quantity of
fixed air, which is extremely bracing; and the use of this liquor is
particularly to be recommended to such as are troubled with scorbutic
humours, or have the gravel. It is chiefly used in summer.

184. JUNIPER-BERRY WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 18 gallons,
Malaga or Smyrna raisins, 35 lbs.
juniper berries, 9 quarts,
red tartar, 4 ounces,
wormwood and sweet marjoram, each 2 handsful.
British spirit, two quarts, or more.

Ferment for ten or twelve days.—This will make eighteen gallons.

185. DAMSON WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 11 gallons,
damsons, 8 gallons;
Ferment.
Mix raw sugar, 30 lbs.
red tartar, in fine powder, 6 oz.
Add brandy, 1 gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

“When the _must_,” says Mr. Carnell, “has fermented 2 days, (during
which time it should be stirred up two or three times,) take out of
the vat about two or three quarts of the stones, and break them and
the kernels, and then return them into the vat again.”

186. _Another Method._

Take a considerable quantity of damsons and common plums inclining to
ripeness: slit them in halves, so that the stones may be taken out,
then mash them gently, and add a little water and honey. Add to every
gallon of the pulp a gallon of spring water, with a few bay-leaves
and cloves; boil the mixture, and add as much sugar as will well
sweeten it; skim off the froth and let it cool. Now press the fruit,
squeezing out the liquid part; strain all through a fine strainer,
and put the water and juice together in a cask. Having allowed the
whole to stand and ferment for three or four days, fine it with white
sugar, flour, and whites of eggs; draw it off into bottles, then cork
it well. In twelve days it will be ripe, and will taste like weak
Port, having the flavour of Canary.

187. _Another._

Gather the damsons on a dry day, weigh them, and bruise them. Put
them into a stein that has a cock in it, and to every 8 pounds of
fruit add a gallon of water. Boil the water, skim it, and put it
scalding hot to the fruit. Let it stand two days, then draw it off
and put it into a vessel, and to every gallon of liquor put 2½ lbs.
of fine sugar. Fill up the vessel, and stop it close, and the longer
it stands the better. Keep it for twelve months in the vessel, and
then bottle, putting a lump of sugar into every bottle. The small
damson is the best for this purpose.

188. CHERRY WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 10 gallons,
cherries, 10 gallons. Ferment.
Mix raw sugar, 30 lbs.
red tartar in fine powder, 3 oz.
Add brandy, 2 or 3 quarts.

This will make 18 gallons.

Two days after the cherries have been in the vat, Mr. Carnell says,
we should take out about three quarts of the cherry stones, break
them and the kernels, and return them into the vat again.

189. _Another._

Take cherries, nearly ripe, of any red sort, clear them of the
stalks and stones, then put them into a glazed earthen vessel, and
squeeze them to a pulp. Let them remain in this state for twelve
hours to ferment; then put them into a linen cloth not too fine, and
press out the juice with a pressing board, or any other convenient
instrument. Now let the liquor stand till the scum rises, and with a
ladle or skimmer take it clean off; then pour the clearer part, by
inclination, into a cask, where, to each gallon put a pound of the
best loaf sugar, and let it ferment for seven or eight days. Draw it
off, when clear, into lesser casks, or bottles; keep it cool as other
wines, and in ten or twelve days it will be ripe.

190. MORELLA WINE.

Cleanse from the stalks, sixty pounds of Morella cherries, and bruise
them so that the stones shall be broken. Now press out the juice
and mix it with 6 gallons of sherry wine, and four gallons of warm
water. Having grossly powdered separate ounces of nutmeg, cinnamon,
and mace, hang them separately, in small bags, in the cask containing
the mixture. Bung it down, and in a few weeks it will become a
deliciously flavoured wine.

191. PEACH WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 18 gallons,
refined sugar, 25 lbs.
honey, 6 lbs.
white tartar, in fine powder, 2 ounces,
Peaches, sixty or eighty in number.
Ferment.
Then add 2 gallons of brandy.

This will make 18 gallons.

The _first division_ is to be put into the vat, and the day after,
_before_ the peaches are put in take the stones from them, break
them and the kernels, then put them and the pulp into the vat, and
proceed with the general process.

192. PEACH AND APRICOT WINE.

Take peaches, nectarines, &c. pare them, and take the stones out;
then slice them thin, and pour over them from a gallon to two gallons
of water, and a quart of white wine. Place the whole on a fire to
simmer gently for a considerable time, till the sliced fruit becomes
soft; pour off the liquid part into another vessel containing more
peaches that have been sliced but not heated; let them stand for
twelve hours, then pour out the liquid part, and press what remains
through a fine hair bag. Let the whole be now put into a cask to
ferment; add of loaf-sugar, a pound and a half to each gallon. Boil
well, an ounce of beaten cloves in a quart of white wine, and add to
it the above.

Apricot wine may be made by only bruising the fruit and pouring the
hot liquor over it. This wine does not require so much sweetening.
To give it a curious flavour, boil an ounce of mace, and half an
ounce of nutmegs, in a quart of white wine; and when the wine is
fermenting, pour the liquid in hot. In about twenty days, or a month,
these wines will be fit for bottling.

193. APRICOT WINE.

Boil together three pounds of sugar, and three quarts of water; and
skim it well. Put in six pounds of apricots pared and stoned, and let
them boil till they become tender. Then take them up, and when the
liquor is cold, bottle it. After taking out the apricots, let the
liquor be boiled with a sprig of flowered clary. The apricots will
make marmalade, and be very good for present use.

194. LEMON WINE.

Pare off the rinds of six large lemons, cut them, and squeeze out the
juice. Steep the rinds in the juice, and put to it a quart of brandy.
Let it stand three days in an earthen pot close stopped; then squeeze
six more, and mix with it two quarts of spring water, and as much
sugar as will sweeten the whole. Boil the water, lemons, and sugar
together, and let it stand till it be cool. Then add a quart of white
wine, and the other lemons and brandy: mix them together, and run it
through a flannel bag into some vessel. Let it stand three months and
then bottle it off.

Cork the bottle well; keep it cool, and it will be fit to drink in a
month or six weeks.

195. _Another._

Pare five dozen of lemons very thin, put the peels into five quarts
of French brandy, and let them stand fourteen days. Then make the
juice into a syrup with 3 lbs. of single refined sugar, and when the
peels are ready, boil 51 gallons of water, with 40 lbs. of single
refined sugar for half an hour. Then put it into a tub, and when
cool, add to it one spoonful of yeast, and let it work two days.
Then tun it, and put in the brandy, peels, and syrup. Stir them
altogether, and close up the cask. Let it stand three months, then
bottle it, and it will be as pale and as fine as any citron water.

196. APPLE WHITE WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 2 gallons,
apples, well bruised, 3 bushels,
honey, 10 lbs.
white tartar, 2 ounces,
1 nutmeg, in powder,
rum, 2 quarts.

This will make 18 gallons.

197. APPLE WINE.

To every gallon of apple juice, immediately it comes from the press,
add 2 lbs. of common loaf sugar; boil it as long as any scum rises,
then strain it through a sieve, and let it cool; add some good yeast,
and stir it well; let it work in the tub for two or three weeks, or
till the head begins to flatten, then skim off the head, draw it
clear off, and tun it. When made a year, rack it off, and fine it
with isinglass; then add ½ a pint of the best rectified spirit of
wine, or a pint of French brandy, to every 8 gallons.

198. APPLE RED WINE.

Take of cold, soft water, 2 gallons,
apples, well bruised, 3 bushels.
Ferment.
Mix, raw sugar, 15 lbs.
beet-root sliced, 4 lbs.
red tartar, in fine powder, 3 oz.
then add ginger, in powder, 3 oz.
rosemary and lavender leaves, of each 2 handsful,
British spirits, 2 quarts.

This will make 18 gallons.

199. QUINCE WINE.

Gather the quinces when pretty ripe, in a dry day, rub off the down
with a linen cloth, then lay them in hay or straw for ten days, to
_perspire_. Now cut them in quarters, take out the cores, and bruise
them well in a mashing tub with a wooden pestle. Squeeze out the
liquid part, by pressing them in a hair bag, by degrees, in a cider
press; strain this liquor through a fine sieve, then warm it gently
over a fire, and skim it, but do not suffer it to boil. Now sprinkle
into it some loaf-sugar reduced to powder; then, in a gallon of water
and a quart of white wine, boil 12 or 14 large quinces thinly sliced:
add 2 lbs. of fine sugar, and then strain off the liquid part, and
mingle it with the natural juice of the quinces; put this into a cask
(not to fill it) and mix them well together; then let it stand to
settle; put in two or three whites of eggs, then draw it off. If it
be not sweet enough, add more sugar, and a quart of the best Malmsey.
To make it still better, boil a ¼ lb. of stoned raisins and ½ an
oz. of cinnamon bark in a quart of the liquor, to the consumption of
a third part, and straining it, put it into the cask when the wine is
fermenting.

200. _Another Method._

Take 20 large quinces, gathered when they are dry and full ripe, wipe
them clean with a coarse cloth, and grate them with a large grater
or rasp as near the cores as possible; but do not touch the cores.
Boil a gallon of spring water, throw in the quinces, and let them
boil softly about a quarter of an hour. Then strain them well into an
earthen pan, on 2 lbs. of double refined sugar. Pare the peel off two
large lemons, throw them in, and squeeze the juice through a sieve.
Stir it about till it be very cool, and then toast a thin bit of
bread very brown, rub a little yeast on it, and let the whole stand
close covered twenty-four hours. Then take out the toast and lemon,
put the wine in a cask, keep it three months, and then bottle it.
If a twenty gallon cask is wanted, let it stand six months, before
bottling it; and remember, when straining the quinces, to wring them
hard in a coarse cloth.

201. ORANGE WINE.

Put 12 lbs. of powdered sugar, with the whites of 8 or 10 eggs well
beaten into 6 gallons of spring water; boil them ¾ of an hour; when
cold, put into it two spoonsful of yeast and the juice of 12 lemons,
which being pared must stand with 2 lbs. of white sugar in a tankard,
and in the morning skim off the top, and then put it into the water;
add the juice and rinds of fifty oranges, but not the white or pithy
part of the rinds; let it work all together two days and two nights;
then add two quarts of Rhenish or white wine, and put it into the
vessel.

202. _Another._

To 6 gallons of water put 15 lbs. of soft sugar; before it boils,
add the whites of six eggs well beaten, and take off the scum as
it rises; boil it ½ an hour: when cool, add the juice of fifty
oranges, and two-thirds of the peels cut very thin; and immerse a
toast covered with yeast. In a month after it has been in the cask,
add a pint of brandy and 2 quarts of Rhenish wine: it will be fit to
bottle in three or four months, but it should remain in bottle for
twelve months before it is drank.

203. ORANGE AND LEMON WINE.

Orange wine of a superior quality may be made with 2 lbs. of clayed
sugar, and 1 lb. of Malaga raisins to each gallon of water, to which
add the juice and peel of an orange, and to every 100 gallons of
fluid, 4 lbs. of Rhenish tartar.

Two lbs. of honey, and 1 lb. of Malaga raisins, with the juice and
peel of a large orange, to every gallon of water, and 4 lbs. of
Rhenish tartar to every 100 gallons of fluid, will make an orange
wine still superior to the former. Steep and press the fruit, and
expend the tartar in setting, raising, and cutting the backs: the
orange peel and juice are not to be added until the last stage of
fermentation, that is on cutting: they will possess infinitely more
vinosity than the ordinary orange wines, indeed, nearly as much as
the juice of the vine.

Lemon wine, equally delicious, may be made in a similar manner: both
these wines, as they advance in age, lose much of the grosser part of
the orange and lemon flavour; one approaches the bergamot, and the
other a fine citron, and become fragrant as they advance in years:
they will be more improved if treacle be used, divested of its colour
and burnt flavour.

204. PARSNIP WINE.

To 12 lbs. of parsnips, cut in slices, add 4 gallons of water; boil
them till they become quite soft. Squeeze the liquor well out of
them, run it through a sieve, and add to every gallon 3 pounds of
loaf sugar. Boil the whole three quarters of an hour, and when it is
nearly cold, add a little yeast. Let it stand for ten days in a tub,
stirring it every day from the bottom, then put it into a cask for
twelve months: as it works over, fill it up every day.

205. WHITE MEAD WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 17 gallons,
white currants, 6 quarts.
Ferment.
Mix honey, 30 pounds,
white tartar, in fine powder, 3 oz.
Add balm and sweetbriar, each 2 handsful,
white brandy, 1 gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

206. RED MEAD, OR METHEGLIN WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 17 gallons,
red currants, 6 quarts,
black currants, 2 quarts.
Ferment.
Mix honey, 25 pounds,
beet-root, sliced, 1 pound,
red tartar, in fine powder, 4 oz.
Add cinnamon in powder, 2 oz.
brandy, 1 gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

207. _Another._

Fermented mead is made in the proportion of 1 pound of honey to 3
pints of water; or by boiling over a moderate fire, to two-thirds of
the quantity, three parts water and one part honey. The liquor is
then skimmed and casked, care being taken to keep the cask full while
fermenting. During the fermenting process, the cask is left unstopped
and exposed to the sun, or in a warm room, until the working cease.
The cask is then bunged, and a few months in the cellar renders
it fit for use. Mead is rendered more vinous and pleasant by the
addition of cut raisins, or other fruits, boiled after the rate of
half a pound of raisins to six pounds of honey, with a toasted crust
of bread, an ounce of salt of tartar in a glass of brandy, being
added to the liquor when casked; to which some add five or six drops
of the essence of cinnamon; others, pieces of lemon peel with various
syrups.

208. WALNUT MEAD WINE.

To every gallon of water, put three pounds and a half of honey, and
boil them together three quarters of an hour. Then to every gallon of
liquor put about two dozen of walnut leaves, pour the boiling liquor
upon them, and let them stand all night. Then take out the leaves,
put in a spoonful of yeast, and let it work for two or three days.

Then make it up, and after it has stood for three months, bottle it.

209. HONEY WINE.

Put a quantity of the comb, from which honey has been drained in a
tub, and add a barrel of cider, immediately from the press; this
mixture stir, and leave for one night. It is then strained before
fermentation; and honey added, until the specific gravity of the
liquor is sufficient to bear an egg. It is then put into a barrel;
and after the fermentation is commenced, the cask is filled every
day, for three or four days, that the froth may work out of the
bung-hole. When the fermentation moderates, put the bung in loosely,
lest stopping it tight might cause the cask to burst. At the end of
five or six weeks, the liquor is to be drawn off into a tub, and the
whites of eight eggs, well beaten up, with a pint of clean sand,
is to be put into it: then add a gallon of cider spirit; and after
mixing the whole together, return it into the cask, which is to be
well cleaned, bunged tight, and placed in a proper situation for
racking off, when fine. In the month of April following, draw it off
into kegs, for use; and it will be equal to almost any foreign wine.

210. COWSLIP RED WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 18 gallons,
Smyrna raisins, 40 lbs.
Ferment.
Mix beet-root, sliced, 3 lbs.
red tartar, in fine powder, 2 oz.
Add cowslip-flowers, 14 lbs.
cloves and mace, in powder, 1 oz.
brandy, one gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

211. COWSLIP WHITE WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 18 gallons,
Malaga raisins, 35 lbs.
white tartar, in fine powder, 2 oz.
Ferment.
Mix cowslip-flowers, 16 lbs.
Add white brandy, 1 gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

212. COWSLIP MEAD.

Is made in this manner: to 15 gallons of water put 30 pounds of
honey, and boil it till one gallon be wasted. Skim it, take it off
the fire, and have ready 16 lemons cut in halves. Take a gallon of
the liquor, and put it to the lemons. Put the rest of the liquor into
a tub with seven pecks of cowslips, and let them stand all night.
Then put in the liquor with the lemons, 8 spoonsful of new yeast, and
a handful of sweetbriar. Stir them all well together, and let it work
three or four days; then strain it, put it into the cask, and after
it has stood six months, bottle it off.

213. CIDER WHITE WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 2 quarts,
cider, 9 gallons,
honey, 8 pounds,
white tartar, in fine powder, 2 oz.
Ferment.
Mix cinnamon, cloves, and mace, 2 oz.
Add rum, half a gallon.

This will make 9 gallons.

214. CIDER RED WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 3 gallons,
cider, 16 gallons,
honey, 10 pounds.
Ferment.
Add raw sugar, 4 pounds,
beet-root, sliced, 4 pounds,
red tartar, in fine powder, 6 oz.
Mix sweet marjorum and sweetbriar, 3 handsful,
rum, 1 gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

215. CIDER WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 4 gallons,
cider, 15 gallons,
honey, 12 pounds,
tartar, in fine powder, 2 oz.
Ferment.
Mix ginger, in powder, 6 oz.
sage and mint, 2 handsful.
Add British spirits, 1 gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

216. GRAPE RED WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 5 gallons,
black, or red grapes, 40 pounds.
Ferment.
Mix cider, 9 gallons,
raw sugar, 20 pounds,
barberry leaves, 3 handsful,
beet-root, sliced, 2 pounds,
red tartar, in powder, 4 ounces.
Add white elder-flowers, 6 handsful, or sassafras chips, 4 pounds.
Brandy, 1 gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

217. _Another._

Take of cold soft water, 6 gallons,
grapes, of any colour, 30 pounds.
Ferment.
Mix treacle, 10 pounds,
beet-root, sliced, 1½ pounds,
red tartar, in powder, 2 ounces.
Add rosemary leaves, 2 handsful,
brandy, ½ a gallon.

This will make 9 gallons.

218. _Another._

Take of cold soft water, 8 gallons,
grapes, of any sort, 100 pounds.
Ferment.
Mix raw sugar, 20 pounds,
beet-root, sliced, 4 pounds,
barberry-leaves, 4 handsful,
red tartar, in powder, 6 ounces.
Add coriander seed, bruised, 2 ounces,
brandy, 6 quarts.

This will make 18 gallons.

219. GRAPE WHITE WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 13 gallons,
white grapes, 50 pounds.
Ferment.
Mix refined sugar, 25 pounds,
white tartar, in powder, 3 ounces.
Add clary seed, bruised, 3 ounces, or
clary flowers, 6 handsful,
Rum, 1 gallon.

This will make 18 gallons.

220. _Another Grape Wine._

To every gallon of ripe grapes put a gallon of soft water, bruise the
grapes, let them stand a week without stirring, and draw the liquor
off fine; to every gallon of wine put three pounds of lump sugar; put
the whole into a vessel, but do not stop it till it has done hissing,
then stop it close, and in six months it will be fit for bottling.

A better wine, though smaller in quantity, will be made by leaving
out the water, and diminishing the quantity of sugar. Water is
necessary, only where the juice is so scanty, or so thick, as in
cowslip, balm, or black currant wine, that it could not be used
without it.

221. RAISIN WINE, EQUAL TO SHERRY.

Let the raisins be well washed and picked from the stalks; to every
pound thus prepared and chopped, add one quart of water, which has
been boiled and has stood till it is cold. Let the whole stand in the
vessel for a month, being frequently stirred. Now let the raisins
be taken from the cask and let the liquor be closely stopped in the
vessel.

In the course of a month let it be racked into another vessel,
leaving all the sediment behind, which must be repeated till it
becomes fine, when add to every ten gallons, six pounds of fine
sugar, and one dozen of Seville oranges, the rinds being pared very
thin, and infused in two quarts of brandy, which should be added to
the liquor at its last racking. Let the whole stand three months in
the cask, when it will be fit for bottling; it should remain in the
bottle for a twelvemonth.

To give it the flavour of Madeira, when it is in the cask, put in a
couple of green citrons, and let them remain till the wine is bottled.

222. _Another Raisin Wine._

Put two hundred weight of raisins, with the stalks, into a hogshead,
and fill it almost with spring water; let them steep for about twelve
days, frequently stirring, and after pouring off the juice, dress
the raisins and mash them. The whole should then be put together
into a very clean vessel that will exactly contain it. It will hiss
for some time, during which it should not be stirred; but when the
noise ceases, it must be stopped close, and stand for about six or
seven months: and then, if it proves fine and clear, rack it off into
another vessel of the same size. Stop it up, and let it remain for
twelve or fourteen weeks longer, then bottle it off. If it should
not prove clear, fine it down with three ounces of isinglass, and a
quarter of a pound of sugar-candy, dissolved in some of the wine.

223. GINGER WINE.

Take of cold soft water, 19 gallons,
Malaga raisins, 50 lbs.
white tartar, in powder, 4 oz.
Ferment.
Mix ginger, in powder, or bruised, 20 oz.
18 lemons, peel and juice.
Add brandy, 2 quarts, or more.

This will make 18 gallons.

224. _Another._

Take 20 quarts of water,
5 lbs. of sugar,
3 oz. of white ginger,
1 oz. of stick liquorice.
Boil them well together; when it is cold put a little new yeast
upon it, but not too much; then put it into the barrel for ten
days, and after that bottle it, putting a lump of white sugar into
every bottle.

225. _Another._

To seven gallons of water put nineteen pounds of clayed sugar, and
boil it for half an hour, taking off the scum as it rises; then take
a small quantity of the liquor, and add to it nine ounces of the best
ginger bruised. Now put it all together, and when nearly cold, chop
nine pounds of raisins, very small, and put them into a nine gallon
cask (beer measure,) with one ounce of isinglass. Slice four lemons
into the cask, taking out all the seeds, and pour the liquor over
them, with half a pint of fresh yeast. Leave it unstopped for three
weeks, and in three months it will be fit for bottling.

There will be one gallon of the sugar and water more than the cask
will hold at first: this must be kept to fill up, as the liquor works
off, as it is necessary that the cask should be kept full, till it
has done working. The raisins should be two-thirds Malaga, and one
third Muscadel. Spring and autumn are the best seasons for making
this wine.

226. RHUBARB WINE.

Take of sliced rhubarb, 2½ oz.
lesser cardamom seeds, bruised and husked, ½ oz.
saffron, 2 drachms,
Spanish white wine, 2 pints,
proof spirit, ½ pint.
Digest for ten days, and strain.

This is a warm, cordial, laxative medicine. If is used chiefly in
weakness of the stomach and bowels, and some kind of loosenesses, for
evacuating the offending matter, and strengthening the tone of the
viscera. It may be given in doses of from half a spoonful to three
or four spoonsful or more, according to the circumstances of the
disorder, and the strength of the patient.

227. SAGE WINE.

Boil twenty-six quarts of spring water a quarter of an hour, and when
it is blood warm, put twenty-five pounds of Malaga raisins, picked,
rubbed, and shred, into it, with almost half a bushel of red sage
shred, and a porringer of ale yeast, stir it all well together, and
let it stand in a tub, covered warm, six or seven days, stirring it
once a day: then strain it off, and put it in a runlet. Let it work
three or four days, and then stop it up; when it has stood six or
seven days, put in a quart or two of Malaga sack; and when it is
fine, bottle it.

228. GILLIFLOWER WINE.

To three gallons of water put six pounds of the best powder sugar,
boil the sugar and water together for the space of half an hour, keep
skimming it as the scum rises; let it stand to cool, beat up three
ounces of syrup of betony with a large spoonful of ale yeast, put it
into the liquor, and brew it well together; then having a peck of
gilliflowers, cut from the stalks, put them into the liquor, let them
infuse and work together three days, covered with a cloth; strain
it, and put it into a cask, and let it settle for three weeks; then
bottle it.

229. TURNIP WINE.

Pare and slice a number of turnips, put them into a cider press, and
press out all the juice. To every gallon of the juice, add three
pounds of lump sugar; have a vessel ready large enough to hold the
juice, and put half a pint of brandy to every gallon. Pour in the
juice and lay something over the bung for a week, to see if it works;
if it does, do not bung it down till it has done working; then stop
it close for three months, and draw it off into another vessel, when
it is fine bottle it off.

This is an excellent wine for gouty habits, and is much recommended
in such cases in lieu of any other wine.

230. ROSE WINE.

Take a well-glazed earthen vessel, and put into it three gallons
of rose-water drawn with a cold still. Put into that a sufficient
quantity of rose leaves, cover it close, and set it for an hour in
a kettle or copper of hot water, to take out the whole strength and
tincture of the roses; and when it is cold, press the rose leaves
hard into the liquor, and steep fresh ones in it, repeating it till
the liquor has got the full strength of the roses. To every gallon
of liquor put three pounds of loaf sugar, and stir it well, that
it may melt and disperse in every part. Then put it into a cask,
or other convenient vessel, to ferment, and put into it a piece of
bread toasted hard, and covered with yeast. Let it stand about thirty
days, when it will be ripe, and have a fine flavour, having the whole
strength and scent of the roses in it; and it may be greatly improved
by adding to it wine and spices. By this method of infusion, wine of
carnations, clove, gilliflowers, violets, primroses, or any other
flower having a curious scent, may be made.

231. BARLEY WINE.

Boil half a pound of fresh barley in three waters, and save three
pints of the last water. Mix it with a quart of white wine, half
a pint of borage water, as much of clary water, a little red
rose-water, the juice of five or six lemons, three quarters of a
pound of fine sugar, and the thin yellow rind of a lemon. Mix all
these well together, run it through a strainer, and bottle it. It is
pleasant in hot weather, and very good in fevers.

232. ENGLISH FIG-WINE.

Take the large blue figs, when pretty ripe, and steep them in white
wine, having made some slits in them, that they may swell and gather
in the substance of the wine. Then slice some other figs, and let
them simmer over a fire in water until they are reduced to a kind of
pulp. Then strain out the water, pressing the pulp hard, and pour it
as hot as possible on the figs that are imbrewed in the wine. Let the
quantities be nearly equal, but the water somewhat more than the wine
and figs. Let them stand twenty-four hours, mash them well together,
and draw off what will run without squeezing. Then press the rest,
and if not sweet enough, add a sufficient quantity of sugar, to make
it so. Let it ferment, and add to it a little honey and sugar-candy;
then fine it with whites of eggs, and a little isinglass, and draw it
off for use.

233. SYCAMORE WINE.

Boil two gallons of the sap half an hour, and then add to it four
pounds of fine powdered sugar. Beat the whites of three eggs to
froth, and mix them with the liquor; but take care that it is not too
hot, as that will poach the eggs. Skim it well, and boil it half an
hour. Then strain it through a hair sieve, and let it stand till next
day. Then pour it clean from the sediment, put half a pint of yeast
to every twelve gallons, and cover it close up with blankets. Then
put it into the barrel, and leave the bung-hole open till it has done
working. Then close it up well, and when it has stood two months,
bottle it. The fifth part of the sugar must be loaf; and if raisins
are liked, they will be a great addition to the wine.

234. BALM WINE.

Take forty pounds of sugar and nine gallons of water; boil it gently
for two hours, skim it well, and put it into a tub to cool. Take two
pounds and a half of the tops of balm, bruise them, and put them into
a barrel, with a little new yeast; and when the liquor is cold, pour
it on the balm. Stir it well together and let it stand twenty-four
hours, stirring it often. Then close it up, and let it stand six
weeks. Then rack it off and put a lump of sugar into every bottle.
Cork it well, and it will be better the second year than the first.

235. SCURVY-GRASS WINE.

Scurvy-grass, or spoonwort, is a very sovereign medicinal herb,
appropriated chiefly to the health of invalids.

Take the best large scurvy-grass tops and leaves, in May, June,
or July, bruise them well in a stone mortar, then put them in a
well-glazed earthen vessel, and sprinkle them over with some powder
of crystal of tartar, then smear them with virgin honey, and being
covered close, let it stand twenty-four hours; then set water over a
gentle fire, putting to every gallon three pints of honey, and when
the scum rises, take it off, and let it cool; then put the stamped
scurvy grass into a barrel, and pour the liquor to it, setting the
vessel conveniently end-ways, with a tap at the bottom. When it
has been infused twenty-four hours, draw off the liquor, strongly
press the juice and moisture out of the herb into the barrel or
vessel, and put the liquor up again; then put a little new yeast to
it, and suffer it to ferment three days, covering the place of the
bung or vent with a piece of bread spread over with mustard seed,
downward, in a cool place, and let it continue till it is fine and
drinks brisk; then draw off the finest part, leaving only the dregs
behind: afterwards add more herbs, and ferment it with whites of
eggs, flour, and fixed nitre, verjuice, or the juice of green grapes,
if they are to be had; to which add six pounds of the syrup of
mustard, all mixed and well beaten together, to refine it down, and
it will drink brisk, but is not very pleasant; being here inserted
among artificial wines rather for the sake of health than for the
delightfulness of its taste.

236. CHEAP AND WHOLESOME CLARET.

Take a quart of fine draft Devonshire cider, and an equal quantity of
good port. Mix them, and shake them. Bottle them, and let them stand
for a month. The best judge will not be able to distinguish them from
good Bordeaux.

237. DRY WINE.

Those who like a dry wine, should put into the vat, at the
commencement of the vinous fermentation, an ounce or two of calcined
gypsum, in fine powder.

MANAGEMENT OF BRITISH WINES.

238. _To guard against unripe Fruit_.

If the season proves bad, so that some fruits are not sufficiently
ripe, immediately after the vinous fermentation, and the _must_ of
such fruit is put into the cask, it is to be rolled two or three
times a day, for a week or two. A spirituous fermentation will soon
commence, the bung of the cask must then be taken out, and the hole
covered with a bit of light wood or canvas, and as any scum arises,
it should be taken away. When the scum disappears, fill up the cask,
and bung it up. But a vent-hole must be left open for a week.

239. _To keep and manage Wines_.

Wines will diminish, therefore the cask must be kept filled up with
some of the same wine, or some other that is as good or better.

They must at all times be kept in a cool cellar, if not, they will
ferment. If wines are kept in a warm cellar, an acetous fermentation
will soon commence, and the result consequently will be vinegar. The
more a wine frets and ferments, the more it parts with its strength
and goodness: when wines are found to work improperly in the cellar,
the vent-peg must be taken out for a week or two.

If any wine ferments, after being perfected, draw off a quart and
boil it, and pour it hot into the cask, add a pint or a quart of
brandy, and bung up a day or two after.

Or, draw off the wine, and fumigate the cask, with one ounce of flour
of brimstone, and half an ounce of cinnamon, in powder. Mix the two
together, and tie them up in a rag. Turn the bung-hole of the cask
downwards, place the rag under the bung-hole, and set fire to it, so
that the gas ascends into the cask. As soon as it is burnt out, fill
up the cask with wine, and bung it up tight.

240. _To sweeten a foul Cask_.

Set fire to a pound or more of broken charcoal, put it into the cask
and immediately fill up the cask with boiling water. After this, roll
the cask once or twice a day for a week; then pour out the charcoal
and water, wash out the cask with clean cold water, and expose it to
the external air for some days.

241. _To improve Poor Wines_.

Poor wines may be improved by being racked off, and returned into the
cask again; and then putting into the wine about a pound of jar or
box raisins, bruised, and a quart of brandy.

Or, put to the wine two pounds of honey, and a pint or two of brandy.
The honey and brandy to be first mixed together.

Or, draw off three or four quarts of such wine, and fill the cask up
with strong wine.

242. _To improve Wine when lowering or decaying_.

Take one ounce of roche-alum, make it into powder; then draw out four
gallons of wine, mix the powder with it, and beat it well for half an
hour; then fill up the cask, and when fine (which will be in a week’s
time or little more) bottle it off. This will make it drink fine and
brisk.

243. _To restore Flat Wines_.

Flat wines may be restored by one pound of jar raisins, one pound of
honey, and half a pint of spirit of wine, beaten up in a mortar with
some of the wine, and then put into the cask.

244. _To remove a musty or disagreeable taste in Wines_.

Put into the cask three or four sticks of charcoal, and bung up the
cask tight. In a month after take them out.—Or, cut two ripe medlars,
put them in a gauze bag, and suspend them from the bung-hole into
the wine, and bung up the cask air-tight. A month after take them
out, and bung up the cask again.—Or, mix half a pound of bruised
mustard-seed, with a pint or more of brandy, and stir it up in the
wine; and two days after bung up the cask.

245. _Another Method_.

At the finish of the process, when the brandy or spirit is put to the
wine, it is particularly recommended that a quarter of an ounce of
crystal camphor, in the lump, be dropped into the bung-hole of each
eighteen gallons of wine.

246. _Another Method_.

Oil poured upon wine, or any other liquor, will prevent it from
growing musty, or becoming corrupt.

247. _To take away the ill scent of Wines._

Bake a long roller of dough, stuck well with cloves, and hang it in
the cask.

248. _To pass White Wine off for Champaign_.

Rack it often from the lees; and when very brilliant, bottle it
off:—this must be done between vintage time and the month of May.

It has (says Mr. Carnell) been a most absurd practice with many
families to use green gooseberries, in order to imitate Champaign
wine; but green fruit is by no means fit or proper for the making
of any wine. Nor, indeed, is it at all necessary in the making an
imitation of Champaign.

249. _To make Wine sparkle like Champaign._

Take great care to rack off the wine well, and in March bottle it as
quick as possible. The bottles must be very clean and dry, and the
corks of the best sort, made of velvet or white cork. In two months
after the wine will be in fine condition to drink.

250. _To clear foul or ropy Wines_.

Take 1 ounce of chalk, in powder,
½ an ounce of burnt alum,
the white of an egg, and
one pint of spring water.
Beat the whole up in a mortar, and pour it into the wine; after
which, roll the cask ten minutes; and then place it on the stand,
leaving the bung out for a few days. As soon as the wine is fine,
rack it off.

Or, take 1 oz. of ground rice,
½ oz. of burnt alum, and
½ oz. of bay-salt.
Beat the whole up in a mortar, with a pint or more of the wine,
pour it into the cask, and roll it ten minutes. The cask must not
be bunged up for a few days. As soon as such wine becomes fine,
rack it off.

Or, bring the cask of wine out of the cellar, and place it in a
shady situation to receive the circulation of the air; and take out
the bung. In three weeks or a month, rack it off into a sweet cask,
which fill up, and put into the wine an ounce of cinnamon, in the
stick; and bung it up tight.

251. _Another Method_.

Tap the cask, and put a piece of coarse cloth upon that end of the
cock which goes to the inside of the cask; then rack it into a dry
cask to thirty gallons of wine, and put in five ounces of powdered
alum. Roll and shake them well together, and it will fine down, and
prove a very clear and pleasant wine.

252. _To correct green or harsh Wines._

Take 1 oz. of salt,
½ an oz. of calcined gypsum, in powder, and
1 pint of skimmed milk.
Mix those up with a little of the wine, and then pour the mixture
into the cask; put in a few lavender leaves, stir the wine with a
stick, so as not to disturb the lees, and bung it up.

253. _To correct sharp, tart, acid Wines._

Mix one ounce of calcined gypsum, in powder, and two pounds of honey,
in one quart of brandy; pour the mixture into the wine, and stir it
so as not to disturb the lees; fill up the cask, and the following
day bung it up:—rack this wine as soon as fine.

Or, mix half an ounce of the salt of tartar, half an ounce of
calcined gypsum, in powder, with a pint of the wine; pour it into
the cask, and put an ounce of cinnamon in the stick; stir the wine
without disturbing the lees, fill up the cask, and the day following
bung it up.

Or, boil 3 ounces of rice; when cold put it into a gauze-bag, and
immerge it into the wine; put into the wine also a few sticks of
cinnamon, and bung up the cask. In about a month after, take the rice
out.

254. _To restore sour Wines._

Take calcined gypsum, in powder, 1 oz.
cream of tartar, in powder, 2 oz.
Mix them in a pint or more of brandy; pour it into the cask; put
in, also, a few sticks of cinnamon, and then stir the wine without
disturbing the lees. Bung up the cask the next day.

255. _Another Method._

Boil a gallon of wine, with some beaten oyster-shells and crabs’
claws burnt into powder, an ounce of each to every ten gallons of
wine; then strain out the liquor through a sieve, and when cold, put
it into wine of the same sort, and it will give it a pleasant lively
taste. A lump of unslacked lime put into the cask will also keep wine
from turning sour.

256. _To fine or clarify Wines._

Boil a pint of skimmed milk; when cold mix with it an ounce of chalk,
in fine powder, pour it into the cask, and roll it ten minutes. The
following day bung up the wine, and rack it off as soon as fine.

257. _Another Method._

Or, take 1½ oz. of gum-arabic, in fine powder, and
1 oz. of chalk, in powder.
Mix those up with a pint more of wine, pour the mixture into the
cask, roll it ten minutes, and then fill it up. Bung it up the next
day, and rack off the wine as soon as fine.

Or, take the yolk and white of an egg,
½ oz. of chalk, in powder, and
½ oz. of burnt alum, in powder.
Beat those up in a mortar with a pint of spring water, and pour the
mixture into the wine, roll the cask; then fill it up, and bung it
up the next day.—Rack off the wine as soon as fine.

258. _To sweeten Wines._

In 30 gallons of wine infuse a handful of the flowers of clary; then
add a pound of mustard seed, dry ground, put it into a bag, and sink
it to the bottom of the cask.

259. _To stop the Fermentation of Wine._

It is in the first place necessary to consider whether the existing
state of fermentation be the original or secondary stage of that
process which comes on after the former has ceased for several days,
and is indeed the commencement of acetous fermentation. That of the
former kind rarely proceeds beyond what is necessary for the perfect
decomposition of the saccharine and other parts of the vegetable
substances necessary for the production of spirit, unless the liquor
be kept too warm, or is too weak, and left exposed to the air after
the vinous fermentation is completed. The means to correct these
circumstances are sufficiently obvious. The heat for spirituous
fermentation should not be above 60 degrees Fahrenheit; when it is
much above that point, the liquor passes rapidly through the stage
of vinous fermentation, and the acetous immediately commences. When
too long-continued fermentation arises from the liquor having been
kept in a warm situation, it will be soon checked by bunging, after
being removed into a cold place; the addition of a small proportion
of spirits of wine or brandy, previously to closing it up, is also
proper. A degree of cold, approaching to the freezing point, will
check fermentation of whatever kind. Fermentation of this kind cannot
be stopped by any chemical agent, except such as would destroy the
qualities of the liquor intended to be produced.

The secondary stage of fermentation, or the commencement of the
acetous, may be stopped by removing the liquor to a cool situation;
correcting the acid already formed; and if the liquor contain but
little spirit, the addition of a proper proportion of brandy is
requisite.

The operation of racking is also necessary to preserve liquor in
a vinous state, and to render it clear. This process should be
performed in a cool place.

260. _To restore pricked British Wines._

Rack the wines down to the lees into another cask, where the lees
of good wines are fresh, then put a pint of strong aqua vitæ, and
scrape half a pound of yellow bees-wax into it, which by heating the
spirit over a gentle fire, will melt: after which dip a piece of
cloth into it, and when a little dry, set on fire with a brimstone
match, put it into the bung-hole, and stop it up close.

261. _Another Method._

First prepare a fresh empty cask, that has had the same kind of wine
in it which is about to be racked, then match it, and rack off the
wine, putting to every ten gallons two ounces of oyster powder, and
half an ounce of bay-salt, then get the staff and stir it well about,
letting it stand till it is fine, which will be in a few days; after
which rack it off into another cask, (previously matched) and if the
lees of some wine of the same kind can be got, it will improve it
much.—Put likewise a quart of brandy to every ten gallons, and if
the cask has been emptied a long time, it will match better on that
account; but if even a new cask, the matching must not be omitted. A
fresh empty cask is to be preferred.

N. B. This method will answer for all made wines.

262. A NEW METHOD OF MAKING CURRANT WINE.

Boiling the fruit is a practice of decided advantage. From this
treatment many tasteless fruits acquire a flavour, as is well known,
and many bad flavours are converted into agreeable ones. In no case
perhaps is this more remarkable than in the black currant, which,
harsh and comparatively insipid in its natural state, acquires
by boiling a powerful, and, to most persons, a highly agreeable
flavour. In making wine from this variety of currant, the effects
of this process are very remarkable; the produce of the raw fruit
being scarcely distinguished by any particular property from the
herd of made wines, while that of the boiled fruit may with careful
management be brought to resemble some of the best of the sweet Cape
wines. In the white and red currant the same precaution has been
attended with results equally successful, though not marked by a
contrast so decided. If sweet wine is intended, the quantity of fruit
for 10 gallons should not exceed 40 pounds; if dry wine is desired,
it may extend to 60. The proportion of sugar will be 30 pounds as
before. If a much stronger wine of either quality is desired, it must
extend to 40 pounds. Unsound or bruised fruit should be rejected; and
the remains of the blossom and fruit stalk carefully removed.

PERFUMERY AND COSMETICS.

————

263. A NATURAL DENTIFRICE.

The common strawberry is a natural dentifrice, and its juice, without
any preparation, dissolves the tartareous incrustations on the teeth,
and makes the breath sweet and agreeable.

264. TO MAKE EAU DE MELISSE DES CARMES.

Take of spirit of balm, 8 pints,
lemon peel, 4 do.
nutmegs, and
coriander seeds, each, 2 do.
rosemary, marjoram,
thyme, hissop,
cinnamon, sage,
aniseed, cloves,
angelica roots, each 1 pint.
Mix. Distil and keep it for a year in an ice-house.

This is the original receipt of the barefooted _Carmelites_, now in
possession of the company of apothecaries of Paris, who sell a vast
quantity of this celebrated water.

265. EAU DE COLOGNE.

Take of essence de bergamotte, 3 oz.
Neroli, 1½ drachms.
cedrat, 2 do.
lemon, 3 do.
oil of rosemary, 1 do.
spirit of wine, 12 lbs.
————————— rosemary, 3¼ do.
eau de melissee de Carmes, 2¼ do.
Mix. Distil in _balneum mariæ_, and keep it in a cold cellar or
ice-house for some time. It is used as a cosmetic, and made, with
sugar, into a ratafia.

266. EAU DE BOUQUET.

Take of sweet-scented honey water, 1 oz.
eau sans pareille, 1½ do.
essence de jasmin, 5 drachms,
syrup of cloves, and
spirit of violets, each, 4 drachms,
calamus aromaticus,
long-rooted cyperus,
lavender, each, 2 do.
essence of neroli, 1 scruple.
Mix. Some add a few grains of musk and ambergris: it is sweet
scented, and may be made into a ratafia with sugar.

267. ESSENCE DE JASMIN.

The flowers are stratified with wool or cotton, impregnated with oil
of behn, or nut oil, in an earthen vessel, closely covered, and kept
for some time in a warm bath; this is repeated with fresh flowers,
until the oil is well scented: the wool, &c. is then put into a
sufficient quantity of spirit of wine, and distilled in _balneum
mariæ_.

268. THE BEST HONEY WATER.

Take of coriander seeds, a pound, cassia, four oz. cloves and gum
benzoin, each, 2 oz. oil of rhodium, essence of lemon, essence of
bergamot, and oil of lavender, each, 1 drachm, rectified spirit of
wine, 20 pints, rose water, 2 quarts, nutmeg water, 1 quart, musk and
ambergris, each, twelve grains. Distil in a water bath to dryness.

269. _Another Method._