Chapter III: Part 3

_To make Rhubarb Wine._—Take five pounds of rhubarb stalks, cut them into small pieces, and proceed as in making either gooseberry or sparkling gooseberry wine, but no cream of tartar should be added, and only three pounds of sugar should be allowed to the gallon.

_To make Date Wine._—Take six pounds of stoned dates, and proceed as in making gooseberry wine, but no sugar is to be added.

The Merissah of the Berbers is a wine made from dates to which a small quantity of maize has been added.

_To make Damson Wine._—Take five pounds of ripe stoned damsons, crush them and one-tenth of their stones, and boil them in a gallon of water. Then proceed as in making gooseberry wine, but only allow three pounds of sugar.

_Mead, or Metheglin_—for the distinction between them is difficult to determine—was the chief alcoholic beverage of the earliest inhabitants of Britain, and the maker of the mead was the eleventh person in order of precedence at the ancient courts of the Welsh princes. Mead is usually supposed to have been the fermented wine obtained from the liquor formed by boiling honeycombs with water, whereas metheglin was prepared from honey and water, with or without the addition of hops or spices.

_To make Spiced Metheglin._—Boil for an hour a mixture of one gallon of water and three pounds of honey, taking off the scum as it forms. Allow the mixture to stand for twenty-hour hours, add yeast on toast, and proceed as directed in the section on the general principles of wine-making. When the active fermentation is subsiding, a few weeks before racking the mead, hang into the liquid within the barrel an open woven bag of mixed spices, an ounce each of crushed ginger, cloves, allspice, and coriander seeds.

_To make Metheglin with Hops._—Boil half an ounce of hops in water, and allow it cool. Pour three quarts of warm water on three pounds of honey, stir, and allow the mixture to stand for twelve hours. Then add the hops and the water in which they were boiled, together with a piece of toast spread on both sides with yeast. Allow the mixture to ferment, and proceed as directed in the section on the general principles of wine-making. Add no ingredients beyond those named above.

_Hydromel_ is but another name for metheglin, the word implying a product of the fermentation of a mixture of honey and water.

_To make American Mead._—Take a barrel of cider, fresh from the apple-press, and place therein twenty or thirty pounds of drained honeycombs. The next day add sufficient honey to raise the specific gravity to such a point that an egg will float in the mixture. It is then to be treated in the manner suggested in the paragraph on the general principles of wine-making, the only further addition being half a gallon of rectified spirits.

_To make Ginger Beer._—Take five gallons of boiling water and pour it on five pounds of lump sugar, five lemons sliced and without their pips, five ounces of bruised ginger, and five ounces of cream of tartar. Strain off when the liquid is cool enough, and add five table-spoonfuls of brewer’s yeast. Let the ginger beer stand all night, and then strain again as carefully as possible. Add the white of one egg before bottling the ginger beer, and put the beer in well-washed champagne bottles. It will be ready in one week. Brewer’s yeast should, if possible, be used, but if none can be had, two ounces of German yeast may be substituted for it.—_J. R._

_To make Spruce Beer._—Mince a quantity of young sprouts of the spruce, and boil them with twenty times their volume of water and an ounce of sugar to the pint of shoots. Allow to cool and proceed as in making ginger beer.

“_He wanted to make a memorandum in his pocketbook; it was about spruce beer. Mr. Knightley had been telling him something about brewing spruce beer, and he wanted to put it down._”

_Certain other Wines._—Currant (red, white, or black), cherry, raspberry, mulberry, whortleberry, blackberry, apple, grape, and elderberry wines are made after the manner of gooseberry wine.

Sloe wine and green gooseberry wine, which latter is not recommended, are made like damson wine.

Raisin and fig wines are made as date wine is made.

Orange wine is made as lemon wine. Apricot, clary, elderflower, ginger, juniper, and gilliflower wines are made after the manner prescribed for cowslip wine.

It is often thought desirable to add to wines the flavour of spices or herbs other than those essentially used in the making of the wine. In such a case, the spices should be placed in a muslin bag and suspended in the wine when active fermentation is subsiding, as suggested in the directions for making. Commonly for elderberry wine, a mixture of crushed ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and mace—of each half an ounce to the gallon—is employed, and for whortleberry wine a mixture of lavender, rosemary, and ginger.

British wines have earned their bad name partly through the careless manner in which they are usually prepared, unclean bottles, corks, casks, and vats being commonly used; and partly through the absurdly short space of time allowed to elapse between making and drinking. No wine is fit to drink under two years from the time of its manufacture, and most wines should be kept in bottle much longer than is customary.

THE DISTILLING OF WATERS AND CORDIALS

THERE is no occupation that comes nearer to the work of gods than this occupation of distilling. By the application of fire, the purest of the elements, we separate from gross, substantial bodies those subtle essences which alone gave them distinction and charm. The distiller can but smile at the impotence of those who are unable to conceive the possibility of a post-physical human existence, for, day by day, as he stands before his stills, he sees the miracle performed whereby the spiritual, the essential, is separated and continues to exist apart from the material body in which it previously dwelt.

(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]

(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]

The work is worthy of fine natures, and should be undertaken with a mind full of reverence.

The practice of distillation dates back to very early times, the oil of cedar mentioned by Dioscorides having been obtained by boiling the oleoresin with water, and condensing the vapour of the oil in sheep’s wool spread on sticks placed across the top of the vessel. But more elaborate stills, consisting of cucurbit, alembic (or head) and receiver, were in use in times not much more recent. Water-baths, sand-baths, and other means for regulating the heat applied to the body of the still were used as early as the eighth century by the Arabians. It was at about this time, also, that distillation of alcohol was first practised.

The distillation of pure alcohol from mixtures containing it, is really only worth attempting under somewhat elaborate conditions, and on a fairly large scale. The distillation of essences and aromatic waters, and of a number of liqueurs may, however, be quite well practised on the domestic scale. A perfectly made tin-lined copper still, with pewter or copper head, neck, and worm, the latter fitting in a wood or metal tub, is the principle article required. It is desirable to have the cucurbit fitted with a perforated water-bath, or metallic basket, to contain the herbs or seeds which are to be heated in the water or alcohol. These substances, thus saved from contact with the inner surface of the cucurbit, are not liable to burn or to stick. For certain things, also, it is desirable to be provided with an unperforated bain-marie when it is wished not to subject the materials to a heat quite equal to the temperature of boiling water.

All the joints of the still and the tubes connected with it must be absolutely vapour-proof, or the subtle gases of the spirits and essences will discover the outlet and escape. The water in the tub containing the worm must be kept cold, a few jugfuls being drawn from its surface at intervals and replaced by fresh cold water. Where possible, fresh plants should be used for distilling purposes, as they more readily yield their essential oils than is usually the case with dried plants.

_Aromatic Waters._—For the distilling of simple aromatic waters about a gallon of water should be allowed to four pounds of the fresh herb, or one pound of the dry herb, and about two quarts should be distilled over. Peppermint water, damask-rose water, orange-flower water, spearmint water, and elder-flower water are prepared in this way. For dill water, caraway water, fennel water, and cinnamon water, a pound of the bruised fruit is mixed with two gallons of water, and one gallon is distilled over.

_Rosemary Water_ is made by mixing a gallon of water, eleven and a half gallons of rectified spirit, and fourteen pounds of rosemary flowers and leaves, and slowly distilling off ten gallons over the water-bath.

_Simple Lavender Water_ is made in the same way, substituting lavender flowers for the rosemary flowers and leaves.

_Beauty Water_ is made by mixing half a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, a pound of the flowering tops of thyme and a pound of those of marjoram, and distilling off a gallon.

_The Distilling of Essences._—The following is a summary of the directions given by M. Deroy of Paris, a well-known manufacturer of excellent stills and other appliances connected with distilling, for the distilling of essences or essential oils.

(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]

(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]

The generality of plants give their maximum of essence when they are dealt with in their fresh condition. Some few, however, produce more when they are dry. The produce of the same kind may vary for divers reasons. The moment of its harvest and the atmospheric conditions under which it is effected, the nature of the soil, the quality of the plants, and their more or less favourable exposal, exercise a sensible influence upon the production.

Substances, previously either cut to pieces, incised, rasped, ground, or crushed according to their nature, are placed in water of ordinary temperature for macerating.

The proportion of water used is mostly of three to four times the weight of the substance. The length of time for soaking varies from twelve to forty-eight hours according to the dryness and the divided state of the substance. Some light essences extracted from fresh flowers (from roses, for example) are obtained without previous maceration.

The matter is placed in the still with the water into which it has been macerated. Sea-salt is sometimes added for the purpose of retarding the point of boiling. It is known that salted water only boils at 108° Centigrade, say about 229° Fahrenheit.

Those who follow this method, which is the one most generally employed when it is a question of exhausting plants which contain rather heavy oils, certify that the essences separate themselves more easily if distilling is effected at a little over 100° C. (water boiling-point).

Those who criticize this proceeding pretend that it has the disadvantage of injuring the quality of the essences obtained.

Thus the necessary quantity of sea salt required for the complete salting of the water is rarely used, which is to say about 40 per cent.; the majority of distillers limit themselves, according to the case in hand, to putting in 20 per cent. and sometimes only from 12 to 15 per cent., considering this a sufficient quantity to obtain a satisfactory result.

(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]

(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]

During the course of the distillation, the water in the refrigerator should be renewed by ordinary means when distilling essences which remain fluid at a normal temperature. Whilst, as for the crystallizable essences such as aniseed, China-aniseed, caraway, fennel, peppermint, and roses, care should be taken to keep the worm at about 30° or 40° Centigrade.

Distilling can be effected by steam or direct fire heat, by taking the precaution in the latter case to place an interior grating in the copper so as to hinder the substances from sticking to the bottom.

The aqueous vapours mixed with those of the essences become condensed in the worm, and the produce of these condensations is gathered in a special vase, known as a Florentine receiver, where the oil becomes separated from the distilled water, by reason of the different densities of the two bodies. According to the nature of the essence, whether lighter or heavier than water, this recipient is supplied either in its upper or lower part with a side spout, by which the overflow of the water passes and leaves the essence to accumulate in the vase in measure as it is produced.

Distilling is continued until the water runs out at the outlet of the worm in a limpid state. By this sign it is known that the distillation is no longer supplying any essential oil to the recipient, as it is precisely the presence of a certain quantity of oil in the water which up to this moment gave it a milky appearance.

(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]

_Cordials._—In the preparation of cordials or liqueurs, scrupulous cleanliness is of the utmost consequence; and the best of sugar, the purest of rectified spirits, the best of herbs or essences, and distilled or filtered rain-water should be used. Where possible, distillation should nearly always be employed in the preparation of liqueurs, lemon and orange liqueurs being perhaps exceptions. If, however, distillation is impracticable, prolonged maceration for a month or more should be resorted to. In this case, in adapting the recipes in this chapter, only enough water is to be employed to make up the total to the amount ordered to be distilled off. If, instead of the herbs or spices themselves, it is decided to use the prepared essences, care should be taken to obtain essences prepared from the herbs, and not mere chemical imitations. Messrs. Bush, Messrs. Stafford, Allen & Co., and the London Essence Co. may be communicated with. The syrup is always added to the distillate last of all, and should have been carefully filtered through a clean filter-bag. If care be taken, the liqueur will be clear as soon as made, or at any rate after standing for a few days. Should, however, this not be the case, the liquid may be fined with whites of eggs, allowing one egg to three gallons. In any case, the liqueur should be stored for some months—preferably for a year or more—before being used.

The following are recipes for the making of a number of cordials by distillation. Those who wish to pursue the subject further may be referred to an admirable series of articles which appeared in the _Mineral Water Trade Review_ from September, 1902, to May, 1903.

_To make Absinthe._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture of one gallon of rectified spirit, half a gallon of water, two pounds of wormwood tops, and eight grains each of dittany leaves, aniseed, calamus root, and angelica root. Add another half-gallon of water, and distil off six quarts at a moderate heat. Add a pint of syrup containing one pound of sugar.

_To make Aniseed Cordial._—Proceed as for clove cordial, substituting half a pound of bruised aniseed and two ounces each of fennel and coriander seeds for the cloves and allspice, and drawing off only six quarts.

_To make Benedictine._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, two ounces of cardamoms, an ounce each of balm, peppermint, genepi, and angelica root, half an ounce of calamus, a dram of cinnamon, and half a dram each of cloves and nutmeg. Distil off a gallon, and add syrup (made by dissolving eight pounds of sugar in three quarts of water) and three quarts of water.

(_From the title-page of the second volume of Brunschwig’s “Liber de Arte Distillandi,” 1507._)]

_To make Green Chartreuse._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, an ounce and a half of lemon-peel, an ounce of balm, half an ounce each of dried peppermint, mountain wormwood, and dried hyssop flowers, three drams of angelica root, a dram of calamus root, half a dram each of cloves, cinnamon, and mace, and a quarter of a dram of cardamoms. Distil off one gallon, and add syrup (made by heating five pounds of sugar in two quarts of water) and a pint of water, colouring the liqueur with a spirituous infusion of spinach or parsley.

_To make Cinnamon Cordial._—Proceed as for clove cordial, substituting half a pound of cinnamon or cassia bark for the cloves and allspice, and distilling at a somewhat lower temperature.

_To make Clove Cordial._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel kept moderately warm, a mixture of one gallon of rectified spirits, one gallon of water, one ounce of bruised cloves, and one dram of allspice. Place the mixture in the still, and draw off six and a half quarts at a moderate heat. Sweeten with syrup (made by heating five pounds of sugar with two quarts of water, and skimming), and colour with cochineal.

(_From Baker’s “The Newe Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]

_To make Hamburgh Bitters._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, two ounces of cinnamon, one ounce each of wormwood, quassia, calamus root, and centaury, half an ounce each of aniseed, orris, coriander, and cloves, and a dram each of ginger, cardamoms, and mace. Distil off one gallon, and add syrup (made by heating three pounds of sugar in three pints of water) and three pints of water.

_To make Kirschenwasser._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, half a gallon of water, a pound of crushed cherry stones, half a pound of crushed apricot stones, an ounce of dried peach leaves, and two drams of myrrh. Distil off a gallon, and add three pints of spirit of noyau (made by distilling off three pints from a digested mixture of three pints of rectified spirits, a pint and half of water, and a pound of bruised apricot stones), a pint of orange-flower water, a gallon and a half of rectified spirits, syrup (made by heating thirty pounds of sugar in three gallons of water), and water to make up to eight and a half gallons.

(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]

(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]

(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]

_To make Kummel._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, half a pound of caraway-seeds, three drams of orris root, and an ounce of fennel seeds. Distil off one gallon, and add syrup (made by heating seven and a half pounds of sugar in three quarts of water) and a quart of water.

_To make Lemon Cordial._—Proceed as for cinnamon cordial, substituting three-quarters of a pound of dried lemon-peel for the cinnamon.

_To make Noyau._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, two pounds of crushed apricot or peach stones, and one pound of crushed plum or prune stones. Distil off five quarts, and add a gallon of syrup containing eight pounds of sugar and a gallon of water.

_To make Orange Cordial._—Proceed as for cinnamon cordial, substituting three-quarters of a pound of the yellow part of fresh orange-peel for the cinnamon.

SOME OTHER CORDIALS AND BITTERS.

“_There is no nation yet known in either hemisphere
where the people of all conditions are more in want of
some cordial to keep up their spirits than in this of
ours._”—SWIFT.

THE following recipes are for the making of cordials by simple mixing without distillation. Nearly all require straining, and some may require to be filtered through filter-paper.

_To make Angostura Bitters._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon and a half of water, two ounces of orange-peel, an ounce and a quarter of angostura bark, three-quarters of an ounce each of alkanet root and red sanderswood, half an ounce of gentian root, two drams each of cardamoms, Turkey rhubarb, cinnamon, caraway, coriander, and wormwood, and fifteen grains of turmeric. Strain, and add a pound of honey. Filter, and bottle.

_To make Balm of Molucca._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, an ounce of cloves, and two drams of mace. Filter, and add a gallon of syrup (containing eight pounds of sugar) and two quarts of water.

_To make Brandy Shrub._—Digest for a month a mixture of a gallon of brandy, the peel of two oranges and a lemon, a pint each of orange juice and lemon juice, and five pints of syrup (containing four pounds of sugar). Strain, and bottle.

_To make Cassis._—Digest for a week, in a covered vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, half a gallon of water, two ounces of cinnamon, and sixteen bruised cloves. At the end of the week add a gallon of black currants, and digest for a further two months. Press and strain, and add half a gallon of syrup (containing eight pounds of sugar).

_To make Cherry Brandy._—Digest for three months, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of good brandy and a gallon of fresh cherries, of which about one-quarter of the stones have been broken. Strain, and add two pounds of loaf sugar.

_To make Crême de Cacao._—Mix a gallon of rectified spirits with six pints of water, two and a half pints of syrup (containing two and a half pounds of sugar), and six and a quarter ounces of Bush’s essence of cocoa.

_To make Crême de Cacao (another way)._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a gallon of rectified spirits, a quart of water, two pounds of caracca, roasted and bruised cocoa-nuts, a pound of West Indian cacao-nuts, and a shred of vanilla. Add a quart of syrup (containing two pounds of sugar). Strain, and bottle.

_To make Crême de Café._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a gallon of rectified spirits, two pounds of coffee ground and roasted, and a gallon of water. Add two quarts of syrup (containing four pounds of sugar). Strain, and bottle.

_To make Crême de Menthe._—Mix five quarts of rectified spirits, a quarter of an ounce of oil of peppermint, two gallons of syrup (containing sixteen pounds of sugar) and half a pint of glycerine. Colour as with green chartreuse.

_To make Curaçoa._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a mixture of the peel of nine Seville oranges, the peel of a lemon, a dram each of cinnamon, coriander, and mace, an ounce of bruised Brazil wood, and a pint of rectified spirits. This tincture, having been filtered, is used to flavour a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, and a gallon of syrup (containing eight pounds of sugar).

_To make Ginger Brandy._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, stirring daily, a mixture of a gallon of brandy, six pounds of sugar, two pounds of raisins, half a pound of sweet almonds, two ounces each of bitter almonds and crushed ginger, an ounce of caraway seeds, and six lemons cut into slices.

_To make Lemon Brandy._—Proceed as with cherry brandy, substituting a dozen sliced lemons for the cherries, and adding one pound of sugar only.

_To make Lemon Cordial._—Digest for a month or more, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, half a pound of lemon-peel, quarter of a pound of orange-peel, half an ounce of cinnamon, half an ounce of coriander, and five pints of water. Strain, and add six pints of syrup (containing six pounds of sugar) and three quarts of water.

_To make Orange Bitters._—Digest for a month, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, a pound of dried orange-peel, half a pound of gentian root, two ounces each of coriander and cinnamon, and an ounce of cardamoms. Strain, and add five pints of syrup (containing five pounds of sugar) and two quarts of water.

_To make Rum Shrub._—As brandy shrub, substituting rum for brandy.

_To make Sighs of Love._—Mix a gallon of rectified spirits, two gallons of syrup (containing twelve pounds of sugar), water six pints, eau de rose one quart, and four drops of essence of vanilla. Colour delicately with cochineal.

_To make Sloe Gin._—Digest for a year a mixture of a gallon of unpricked sloes, a gallon of gin, and six or eight pounds of sugar.

_To make Tent._—Digest a mixture of a quart of port, a pint of sherry, a pint of rectified spirits, a quarter of a pint each of lemon juice and orange-flower water, three and a half pints of syrup (containing two pounds of sugar), and three drops of essence of ambergris.

_To make Usquebaugh._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, shaking daily, a mixture of a gallon of brandy, a pound of stoned raisins, a pound of sugar candy, an ounce each of crushed cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, caraways, and nutmeg, a quarter ounce of saffron, and the rind of a Seville orange.

_To make Vermouth._—Digest for a month, in a closed vessel, a quart of rectified spirits, two and a half gallons of a white wine, a sliced orange, two bruised nutmegs, half an ounce each of centaury, germander, calamus, elecampane, wormwood, and blessed thistle, and a quarter of an ounce each of gentian root and angelica root. Filter, and bottle.

DRINKS—OLD AND NEW

“_Life isn’t all beer and skittles—but beer and
skittles, or something better of the same sort, must
form a good part of every Englishman’s education._”—TOM
HUGHES.

_TO make Ale Cup._—Digest for a few hours (preferably for a few days) a quarter of an ounce each of cinnamon and allspice and a couple of cloves in a tea-cupful of sherry, and strain through muslin. Add to this infusion four bottles of ginger beer and a quart of ale. Cool on ice, and serve in tankards.

_To make Badminton._—Mix in a jug, placed on ice, a bottle of soda-water, a bottle of claret, a glass of sherry, a glass of maraschino, the peel and juice of a lemon, a table-spoonful of castor sugar, and a sprig of borage.

_To make Bishop._—Stick four Seville oranges with cloves, and roast them brown before the fire. Place the oranges in a covered earthenware vessel before the fire, together with half a pound of castor sugar, a quarter of an ounce of mixed ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and half a pint each of water and of claret. Let it stand for a few hours—preferably for twenty-four hours. Then squeeze the oranges, and strain. Warm the mixture and add a boiling mixture of half a pint of claret and a quarter of a pint of port.

“_Fine oranges,
Well roasted, with sugar and wine in a cup,
They’ll make a sweet Bishop when gentlefolks sup._”

_To make Boston Cooler._—Place in a tumbler a bottle of sarsaparilla, a bottle of ginger ale, the rind of a lemon thinly sliced, and a few bits of ice.

The best way to break a piece of ice into smaller pieces is to use a large needle and strike it with a hammer; or it may be crushed by wrapping it in a napkin or other cloth and hitting it with a mallet.

_To make a Brandy Cocktail._—Fill a tumbler with chipped ice, and pour thereon three drops of Boker’s or angostura bitters, six drops of syrup, and half a wine-glassful of brandy. Stir for a minute, and then strain into a wine-glass containing either a small piece of lemon-peel or a few drops of curaçoa.

_To make Champagne Cobbler._—Half fill a large tumbler with shaved ice, add the juice of half a lemon and a tea-spoonful of soda, and fill up with champagne. Dash a little claret over the top. This should be served with straws.

_To make Champagne Cup._—Mix in a jug, placed on ice, a bottle of champagne, two bottles of soda-water, a liqueur-glassful of brandy, a liqueur-glassful of curaçoa or maraschino, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, a thin slice of cucumber (which remove before serving), a pound of ice, and a sprig of verbena.

_To make Cider Cup._—Proceed as with champagne cup, replacing the champagne by cider, and using only one bottle of soda-water.

_Simple Claret Cup._—Extract the “zest” or essential oil from the peel of a lemon by rubbing four lumps of sugar upon it. Pare another lemon as thinly as you can. Put the paring and the sugar into a large jug, and pour in a quart of claret. Mix all well together, and set the jug on ice for one hour. Just before serving add a pint of sparkling moselle and two bottles of soda-water. Put a few sprigs of borage or of balm into the jug.—_J. R._

_To make Coffee._—Purchase whole, and preferably unroasted, berries of good quality from a reliable source. Roast freshly as required, grind as soon as roasted, and make as soon as ground. Some admirably simple coffee-roasters are now obtainable. In the absence of a proper roaster, a frying-pan may be used, a few berries being roasted at a time. A very little butter should be placed in the pan, a low fire should be employed, and the berries should be kept on the move till they are of a light brown colour. It should be remembered that a single burnt berry will spoil the coffee. Coffee should be most carefully strained, and therefore some form of coffee-pot with percolator is desirable. Pack the freshly ground coffee tightly in the strainer, and slowly pour boiling water on it. As soon as the coffee has percolated through, it should be served. Boiling it drives off the aroma. A table-spoonful of ground coffee should be allowed to each _café noir_ cup, or each large cup of _café au lait_. _Café au lait_ consists of an equal mixture of coffee and boiled milk.

_To make Crambambuli._—Boil half a pound of sugar in a quart of ale. Beat six eggs with half a pint of cold ale. Add the boiling ale, and serve.

_To make an Egg-and-Brandy Mixture._—Beat up the yolks of two eggs. Thoroughly mix with a tea-cupful each of brandy and cinnamon water.

_To make Egg Flip._ (From “Oxford Night-Caps.”)—Egg posset, _alias_ egg flip, otherwise, in college language, rum booze. Beat up well the yolks of eight eggs with refined sugar pulverized, and a nutmeg grated; then extract the juice from the rind of a lemon by rubbing loaf sugar upon it, and put the sugar, with a piece of cinnamon and a quart of strong home-brewed beer, into a saucepan, place it on the fire, and when it boils take it off, then add a single glass of gin, or this may be left out, put the liquor into a spouted jug, and pour it gradually among the yolks of eggs, etc. All must be kept well stirred with a spoon while the liquor is being poured in. If it be not sweet enough, add loaf sugar.

_To make Egg Nog._—Well beat the yolks of six eggs, and mix them with half a pound of castor sugar, stirring till the sugar is dissolved. Add this to a mixture of a pint of brandy, a pint of rum, and three pints of milk, stirring the while. Pour over the whole the well-beaten whites of six eggs, and lastly grate a little nutmeg over all. Having been cooled over ice, this should be served in small tumblers. If hot egg nog is desired, use hot milk.

_Fruit Drink._—Mash one pint of strawberries, raspberries, currants, or mulberries in a pint of water, into which the juice of two lemons has been squeezed. Add a little sifted sugar. Strain through a hair sieve. If not sufficiently liquid, add some iced water or half a bottle of soda-water.—_J. R._

_To make John Collin’s Gin Sling, or Gin Fizz._—Mix in a tumbler the juice of half a lemon, a small tea-spoonful of castor sugar, and a wine-glassful of Hollands or of Old Tom gin. Stir for two minutes, then add a few pieces of ice and a bottle of soda-water.

_To make La Masubal, or Lamb’s Wool._—Roast half a dozen apples, having previously cored them. Boil a small piece of crushed ginger, a quarter of a nutmeg grated, and two or three ounces of sugar in a quart of strong ale. Add the pulp of the roasted apples, and serve hot.

_Lemonade._—To make one quart of lemonade allow six ripe lemons, or eight if they are not juicy. Take four good-sized lumps of sugar and rub the outside of the lemons well with them, in order to extract the “zest” of the rind. Pick out every pip, and squeeze every drop of juice the lemons will yield into a jug. Then add the four lumps of sugar, and pour in nearly a quart of boiling water. Cover the jug till the lemonade is cold. It is an improvement to set the lemonade on ice, but do not put any pieces of ice into it.—_J. R._

_The Long Drink._—Take a large soda-water tumbler, and bruise into it twelve or more strawberries, or any fruit which will yield not less than a table-spoonful of juice. Add a table-spoonful of cream, and fill up with soda-water.—_J. R._

_To make Mint Julep._—Place four or five sprigs of mint in a tumbler, together with a table-spoonful of castor sugar and two table-spoonfuls of water. Stir for two minutes, then add a wine-glassful of brandy, and fill up the tumbler with shaved ice. The lip of the tumbler may be rubbed with a piece of fresh pine-apple.

“_Behold this cordial Julep here
That foams and dances in his crystal bounds,
With spirits of balm and fragrant spices mix’d._”

_To make Mulled Ale._—Boil a quart of ale with a table-spoonful of sugar, a tea-spoonful of crushed ginger, and two or three cloves. Beat up eight eggs in a quarter of a pint of cold ale, and place in a large jug. Pour the boiling ale on this mixture, and then pour the resultant to and from another jug for some minutes in such a way as to froth the mixture fully.

_Mulled Claret._—Put half a pint of claret into a saucepan with a little water, six or eight cloves, and a piece of cinnamon. Make it boiling hot. Grate a little nutmeg and a little ground ginger very finely into a jug, pour the claret in, and add a lump of sugar which has been well rubbed on the rind of a lemon.—_J. R._

_To make Hot Milk Punch._—Dissolve half a pound of sugar in a quart of boiling milk. Add half a bottle of brandy and a quarter of a bottle of rum, grating a little nutmeg over the surface, and adding the thin outer rind and juice of four lemons.

_To make Milk Punch for Bottling._—Place the thin outer peel and the juice of three Seville oranges and three lemons, with half a nutmeg grated, in a bottle with a pint of brandy, and leave it to stand for a few days. Then add a quart of brandy, a pint of rum, a pound of sugar, and three pints of water. Add a quart of boiling milk, and stir thoroughly. Let the mixture stand for twenty-four hours, and then strain through muslin, and bottle.

_To make Hot English Punch._—Rub twelve or more lumps of sugar over the rind of four lemons until the yellow part has been removed. Throw the sugar into the jug or bowl, and make up the weight of sugar to a pound. Add the juice of the lemons and two quarts of boiling water, and stir for five minutes. Then add a bottle of brandy and half a bottle of rum.

_To make Cold Punch._—Proceed as with hot punch, but replacing the boiling water by cold water and a few pieces of ice. The punch itself is better not cooled over ice before serving.

_To make Cold Gin Punch._—Rub a few lumps of sugar over the outer peel of a lemon, and place this, with the juice of the lemon, in a jug or bowl, together with enough sugar to make up to three ounces. Add half a pint of gin, a wine-glassful of maraschino, a pint of water, and two bottles of iced soda-water.

_To make Purl._—Beat three eggs to a froth, and well mix them with two ounces of castor sugar and a gill of ale. Heat a quart of ale with a tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg and a table-spoonful of crushed ginger. Slowly add the hot ale to the ale-and-eggs mixture. Lastly, add a wine-glassful of gin or brandy.

“_For the rest, both the tap and the parlour of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters gave upon the river, and had red curtains matching the noses of the regular customers, and were provided with comfortable fireside utensils, like models of sugar-loaf hats, made in that shape that they might, with their pointed ends, seek out for themselves glowing nooks in the depths, where they mulled your ale, or heated for you those delectable drinks—purls, flip, and dog’s nose. The first of these humming compounds was a specialty of The Porters, which, through an inscription on its door-posts, gently appealed to your feelings as ‘The Early Purl House.’_”

_To make Raspberry Vinegar._—Pour two quarts of best vinegar over one quart of raspberries picked from their stalks but not mashed. Leave them for twenty-four hours. Next day put the vinegar and fruit on the fire till it just boils, and then squeeze it through a cloth. Add two pounds of sugar, and let all simmer for ten minutes. This quantity makes six bottles. A gill of raspberry vinegar mixed into a tumbler of seltzer water makes a most refreshing drink.—_J. R._

_To make Raspberry Vinegar (another recipe)._—Take a quart of raspberries and place them in a jar. Cover them with a pint of vinegar. In three days pour off the vinegar, and replace the raspberries by a fresh lot, again pouring the vinegar over them. In three days pour off the vinegar again, strain it, add a pound of sugar, boil for five minutes, skim it, and bottle it.

_To make Saratoga Cobbler._—Half fill a tumbler with shaved ice, and place therewith a liqueur-glassful each of brandy, whisky, and vermouth, and four drops of angostura bitters. Mix thoroughly, strain, and add a slice of lemon.

_To make Shandy Gaff._—Pour into a tumbler coincidently equal quantities of beer and ginger beer.

_To make Sherbet._—Dry separately a pound of fine castor sugar, half a pound of carbonate of soda, and half a pound of tartaric acid. Add to the sugar a large tea-spoonful of essence of lemon, then add the acid and soda, and well mix. The sherbet should at once be securely bottled, as the least damp destroys its virtue.

_To make Sherry Cobbler._—Half fill a tumbler with shaved ice. Add two wine-glassfuls of sherry and a table-spoonful of castor sugar. Stir. This should be served with straws.

_To make a Syllabub._—Place in a large basin half a pint of sherry and three ounces of castor sugar. Dissolve the sugar, and then add to the mixture a pint of warm milk slowly poured from a height so as to make a froth.

_To make Tewahdiddle._—“This is a right gossip’s cup, that far exceeds all the ale that ever Mother Bunch made in her lifetime.” To half a pint of beer add a dessert-spoonful of brandy, half a tea-spoonful of brown sugar, a slice of lemon and some nutmeg grated. It may be drunk cold, or the beer may be heated before mixing.

_To make a bowl of Wassail._—“_At night to sup, and then to cards, and last of all, to have a flaggon of ale and apples, drunk out of a wood cup, as a Christmas draught, which made all merry._” Boil a quarter of an ounce each of bruised ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a couple each of cloves, corianders, and cardamoms in three-quarters of a tumblerful of water for ten minutes. Add a quart of ale, a bottle of sherry, and from half a pound to a pound of sugar. Heat, but do not get too near the boiling-point. Then beat the yolks of six eggs and the whites of three eggs, and throw them into the bowl. Slowly add half the heated ale and wine, stirring all the while. Bring the remainder to the boil and pour it also in the bowl. Lastly, throw into the bowl six roasted apples which had been cored and stuffed with sugar and think of Puck’s confession—

“Sometimes lurk I in a gossip’s bowl,
In very likeness of a roasted crab,
And, when she drinks, against her lips I bob,
And in her wither’d dewlaps pour the ale!”

HINTS FOR REFRESHMENTS AT A GARDEN-PARTY OR PICNIC

IT may be useful to give a general idea of the quantities required in providing for a party of, say, eighty guests.

Five gallons of tea, allowing five ounces of good tea to each gallon. Six gallons of coffee, half to be served hot with milk, and half to be served iced, allowing eight ounces of coffee to each gallon. Three gallons of claret-cup, allowing for each gallon four bottles of claret and four bottles of soda-water. Twelve quarts of water-ice; six quarts to be of lemon ice and six of strawberry ice. Twelve dishes of sandwiches, of different kinds; these are sure to be popular, and a tolerable supply should be kept in reserve. Four dishes of rolled brown bread and butter, and the same quantity of white. Eight pounds of plum-cake cut up into small thick pieces. Six pounds of freshly made sponge finger biscuits. Two or more bowls of _macédoine_ of fruit. Oatcake cut into long fingers and spread with Devonshire cream is popular, and so are small scones split open and filled with Devonshire cream. A few kinds of sandwiches suitable for garden-parties may be mentioned here.

_Salad Sandwiches._—Use watercress picked from the hard stems, mustard and cress, or shred lettuce leaves. Spread the bread with _maître d’hôtel_ butter. For this, add to two ounces of butter the juice of one lemon, a dessert-spoonful of chopped parsley leaf freed from all moisture, a pinch of white pepper, and a pinch of salt.

_Cucumber Sandwiches._—Pare the cucumber, and just before the sandwiches are wanted cut it into very thin slices. Place the cucumber between thin pieces of white bread and butter stamped out with a round cutter.

_Rolled Sandwiches._—Pound in a mortar two ounces of cooked tongue or ham freed from skin and fat, a quarter of a pound of cooked chicken or turkey, two table-spoonfuls of _maître d’hôtel_ butter, one ounce of plain butter, and six table-spoonfuls of fine white of bread-crumbs. When the mixture is smooth, add a dust of pepper and a small pinch of salt, and pass it through a sieve. Sprinkle a few bread-crumbs lightly on a pastry-board, take a little of the mixture, and pat it out with a knife dipped in hot water. Make it two inches and a half long, and one inch and a half wide. Trim the edges, and raise it carefully from the board with the knife, rolling it over as you raise it. If the mixture is too moist add a few more bread-crumbs, but if it is too dry it will break and not roll. Dish the rolls on a bed or cress.

_Green Sandwich Rolls._—Pound the yolk of a hard-boiled egg with a quarter of a pound of butter, six sprigs of watercress, and six sprigs of parsley. Blanch the watercress and parsley by throwing them for five minutes into boiling water. Press them dry in a cloth, but do not squeeze them. Then add a dust of pepper and salt, and six table-spoonfuls of brown bread-crumbs; and when the mixture is smooth roll it as in the former recipe.

_Sweet Sandwiches_ can be made of any jam or marmalade. They are better without butter, and the preserve should be very lightly spread. They should be about four inches long and one inch wide. Chocolate, melted in a little hot milk, and spread between slices of stale sponge cake, makes a popular sandwich.

_Macédoine of Fruit._—Put three lumps of sugar and the thinly pared rind of half a lemon into a quarter or a pint of water, and boil it for ten minutes. Then add, if possible, twelve raspberries. If raspberries cannot be had, add the juice of the half lemon. Let it boil up, skim it, and set it on ice till quite cold. Then add a dessert-spoonful of good brandy. Put into a china bowl currants freed from their stalks, raspberries and strawberries picked from their stems, peaches and apricots stoned and cut into quarters, black and white grapes, and a few mulberries. Crack the stones of the peaches and apricots, peel the kernels, and add them to the fruit in the bowl. Set the bowl on ice. Ten minutes before the _macédoine_ is wanted, pour the cold syrup gently over the fruit, and keep the bowl on a dish filled with crushed ice. Help the _macédoine_ with a soup-ladle instead of a spoon.

_Travellers’ Sandwiches._—These are so often coarsely and carelessly made that the traveller on whom the sandwiches are bestowed flies in disgust to the dainties of the railway refreshment-room. Sandwiches should be packed in the paper known as “butter paper,” and if they have to be cut some time before they are wanted, they should be kept under a damp cloth, as they soon become dry if covered with a dish. A small leaf of young lettuce, or a little cress, improves most sandwiches.

_Ham Sandwiches._—Work a little mustard into the butter you mean to use, and butter both the slices of bread on one side. Lay a thin slice of ham between the pieces of buttered bread, and press the sandwiches under a light weight.

_Beef Sandwiches._—Prepare these in the same way, but add a little grated horseradish to the butter as well as the mustard.

_Chicken Sandwiches._—Use slices of chicken and ham, or chicken and tongue, or pound the two together. Spread a little _maître d’hôtel_ butter on the bread.

_Gladstone Sandwiches._—Use crisp toast instead of bread, butter the toast with _maître d’hôtel_ butter, and cover it with finely shred celery. Cold game is best for these sandwiches.

_Travellers’ Rolls._—Make dinner rolls the size and shape of an egg, scoop out part of the crumb, and fill the space with pounded cooked meat moistened with _maître d’hôtel_ butter, and well mixed with shred lettuce, mustard and cress, or sliced cucumber.

_Egg Sandwiches._—Put some fresh eggs into water which is already boiling fast, and let them boil for fifteen minutes. Peel off the shells, cut the eggs into slices lengthwise (not across, or the yolk and white will not be equally divided), and place them between slices of bread and butter. Mix both salt and pepper into the butter before you spread it. Or pound the eggs when they are cold and shelled, pounding the white and the yolk together in a mortar. Add a little butter, salt, pepper, and a dust of cayenne, and spread the mixture on thin slices of bread.

_Cheese and Celery Sandwiches._—Mix freshly grated cheese with an ounce of butter till it becomes a thick paste. Spread this on thin slices of bread, and cover it with celery shred as finely as possible.

_Beef Roll._—This is excellent for a journey if cut into sandwiches.

Mince very finely one pound of raw beefsteak and a quarter of a pound of cooked ham. The meat should be passed twice through the mincing machine. Add to the meat one well-beaten egg and two ounces of dried and sifted bread-crumbs. Season with pepper and salt, but be careful not to put too much. Then mix all well together with a wooden spoon. Shape the meat into a roll, and tie it up in a cloth, fastening the ends tightly. Boil the roll for three hours, and glaze it. When cut up into sandwiches, the mustard spread on the meat should be mixed with water in which a little horseradish has been grated.

_Out-of-Door Meals._—A good way of packing a light summer luncheon is to take two strong biscuit-tins of the two-pound size, then to line them with lettuce leaves at the bottom and sides, and finally to arrange packets of sandwiches in one tin, with more lettuce to cover them. In the other tin set a loaf of bread and a plain luncheon cake, with a good clasp knife, and pack the space left with fruit and whole tomatoes. Bottles of cold tea should be taken in another basket, with a bottle or two of claret or light beer, and a few tumblers. For a boating-trip lasting a day or two the following suggestions may be found useful. When you encamp by the riverside, and your fire is burning, put on the saucepan with ten potatoes roughly peeled, three unpeeled onions, and a couple of carrots sliced. Pour in just enough water to cover the vegetables, and boil them for twenty minutes, keeping the lid of the saucepan tightly closed. After twenty minutes pour off the water, and put into the saucepan the contents of a one-pound tin of haricot-mutton, or beef, or Irish stew, and stir in two large spoonfuls of Bovril or Liebig’s Essence of Meat. If Worcester sauce is liked, add a tea-spoonful of that. Stir all well together, and continue to stir the stew over a hot fire for five or six minutes. This makes a good dinner for two hungry men. If you can buy from a neighbouring garden some young potatoes and carrots use twenty of each. Do not peel the potatoes, only wash them and rub them with a coarse cloth. In washing up after such a meal use absolutely boiling water, for merely _hot_ water is of no use. Fill your saucepan or cooking-pot with water, and when it boils scour it round a few times with a piece of house-flannel tied firmly to a stick. Do the same to the frying-pan. Put metal cups and plates into boiling water, also the blades of knives and the prongs of forks (keeping the handles out of the water). In this way they will soon be quite clean, and after a final dip in the river, and a rub with a dry cloth, they will shine like silver. If a bit of bacon can be procured do not fry it, but toast it on a toasting-fork before a clear part of the fire. The rashers of bacon should be cut thin, and they will be sufficiently toasted when the fat looks transparent. A gingerbread loaf, made according to the following family recipe, is useful for boating-trips, as the longer it lasts the better it is. Two pounds of brown flour, two pounds of treacle, a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, a breakfast-cupful of cream, two eggs, a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda dissolved in a little hot water, two ounces and a half of ground ginger, and a little chopped citron. Mix all well together, and bake in a moderately hot oven.

_Cold Tea._—Cold tea, properly made, is much appreciated on journeys, and is generally liked by shooting-parties on hot days. But good cold tea cannot be made by filling bottles with the remains of the tea at breakfast. Cold tea should be drunk unsweetened, and if carelessly made it is flat and unpalatable. Wide-mouthed glass bottles with screw-tops, such as are sold for jam, are the best to use. Cold tea should be made from the best tea and freshly boiling water; it should stand four minutes only, and should then be poured into the bottles through a tin strainer. A couple of lemons and a sharp clasp-knife should be packed in the basket with the bottles of tea, and a little metal box of sugar can be added for those who like it.

_Iced Coffee._—Make strong coffee from freshly ground berries, add cold milk and a little sifted sugar. Put the coffee into glass jugs, and set these on ice for at least two hours before use. If pieces of ice are put into the coffee the flavour is spoilt.

_Water Biscuits. Family Recipes._—(1) One pound of fine flour and two ounces of butter well rubbed together. Add a pinch of salt. Mix with cold water to a very stiff paste, and beat it well with a rolling-pin. Break the paste into pieces the size of a walnut, and roll each into a round. Prick each biscuit with a biscuit-pricker. Put them on a very hot baking-sheet, and bake in a very quick oven.