consequence of its extreme excellence, from the dew of the sun, _ros
solis_, was made of burnt brandy, sugar, and the juice of sweet fruits,
such as cherries or mulberries. Louis XIV. was much attached to this
particular liqueur. That prepared for him was said to differ a little
from the ordinary compound. A receipt is given of the king’s drink.
Equal quantities of _eau de vie_ and Spanish wine, in which were infused
anise, coriander, fennel, citron, angelica, and sugar-candy dissolved in
camomile water, and boiled to a thick syrup, were a distinctive feature
in this royal liqueur.
Owing to oblivion or ignorance of the _anisette_ of Henri II. this
monarchical recognition of _rossolio_ has led to the supposition that
liqueurs were invented to invigorate the senile decrepitude of Louis
XIV., but it has been shown that they existed long before his time.
George IV. is said to have been attached to liqueurs in much the same way
as Louis XIV., who may have supposed that they in some measure improved
his health or arrested his decay.
The liqueur industry is chiefly continental, and the liqueurs are
very numerous. Holland is famous for its _Curaçoa_ and Russia for
its _Kümmel_, and almost every large district of France has its own
speciality of liqueur. Bordeaux[76] is remarkable for its _Anisette_,
Dijon for its _Cassis_, Marseilles for its _Absinthe_, Grenoble for its
_Ratafias_, and Paris and Lyons are each noted for many different kinds.
The English have attained as yet no high rank as liqueur manufacturers.
The prosaic nature of the Trade Returns includes all liqueurs of foreign
origin under the heading of “_Sweetened or mixed Spirits_.” It makes no
distinction between Eaux and Crèmes or between Ratafias and Elixirs. We
have been told that elixirs are yellow and aromatized, and eaux or crèmes
white, while ratafias are substantially infusions of fruit. Originally
this may have been so. It is not the case at present.
Both _Elixir_ and _Ratafia_ are interesting from an etymological
standpoint. The latter word has excited considerable discussion. Menage,
writing it as it was commonly written in his time, _ratafiat_, says it is
a term derived from the East Indies. Leibnitz, on the contrary, holds it
to be a corruption of _rectifié_ applied to alcohol. Another etymology is
_rata fiat_. Parties were supposed to enter into a contract, and after
drinking the liqueur to say, “Let it be ratified.”
_Elixir_[77] is an Arabic word derived from the Greek, by which the
alchemists denoted their powder of projection or philosopher’s stone.
[Illustration]
LIQUEURS.
II.
Liqueur Maker’s Guide. GERMAN LIQUEURS: Eau d’Amour—Eau
Divine. DANTZIG LIQUEURS: Eau Miraculeuse—Eau Aerienne.
FRENCH LIQUEURS: Vespetro—Scubac—Absinthe—Maraschino, etc. Du
Verger—Vermuth, etc.
To a humble and unpretending volume, little known by the world, to the
_Cordial and Liqueur Makers’ Guide, and Publicans’ Instructor_, we are
indebted for a large part of the information in the present chapter.
This excellent and possibly unique volume of modern date contains some
two hundred receipts for the manufacture of the most favourite drinks
in their greatest perfection; in addition to a variety of miscellaneous
matter of much practical utility to the publicans’ profession, though of
no immediate interest probably to the readers of the present book. For
instance, we are taught therein the mysteries of _Spirit Beading_, or, in
exoteric language, the putting a head on weak spirits, and the _fining_
of sherry, port, gin, ale, and porter. Most of the receipts, we are
assured, have never before appeared in print. They are the result of an
experience of some thirty years. A warning is given in the preface about
the common and extensive adulteration of liqueurs with essential oils,
turpentine, and spirits of wine.
In the first chapter of the _Cordial and Liqueur Makers’ Guide_, we
find receipts for those familiar beverages which are most common
in our respectable public firms—public house is what Bentham would
call an emotional term—such as _Peppermint_, _Cloves_, _Rum Shrub_,
_Aniseed_, _Caraway_, _Noyeau_, _Raspberry_, _Gingerette_, _Orange
Bitters_, _Wormwood Bitters_, _Lemonade_, _Capillaire_, _Cherry Brandy_,
_Cinnamon_, _Lovage_, and _Usquebaugh_—of these the receipt for _Lovage_
may be taken as a sole representative.
This aromatic drink, which is comparatively rare, is perhaps not
generally known to be prepared from a plant indigenous to Liguria, a
country of Cisalpine Gaul—from which country its name is through sundry
philological decadences derived.[78] After reading this, the student of
human nature and mercantile morality will be fully prepared to learn that
the plant indigenous to Liguria enters in no way into its composition.
Mix, says the receipt, five drams of oil of nutmegs, five drams of oil of
cassia, and three drams of oil of caraway in a quart of strong spirits of
wine. Shake it well, and put it into a ten gallon cask with two gallons
more of spirits of wine. Dissolve twenty pounds of lump sugar in hot
water, add this to the spirit with a quarter of a pint of colouring,
and fill up the cask with water. Fine it down with two ounces of alum
dissolved in boiling water, and put into the goods[79] hot; afterwards
add one ounce of salts of tartar, and stir the whole well together.
The receipts which follow of German, Dantzig, and French liqueurs
postulate a preliminary grinding of all dry substances, such as cloves
or cinnamon; the cutting into the smallest pieces of leaves, flowers,
peels; and the reducing to a paste, by means of a marble mortar, of
almonds and fruit kernels with a small quantity of spirits to prevent
them _oiling_.[79] These ingredients should be allowed to soak in the
spirit for a month with diurnal shakings in a warm place. Then the spirit
must be poured off and the water added after the quantity in the receipt.
After standing a few days, pour off, press out all the liquid, mix with
the spirit, add sugar and colouring matter, and filter through a flannel
bag. In the matter of gold and silver leaf, an attempt to break it when
dry would reduce one half to dust, and so spoil the appearance of the
liqueur. It must be spread on a plate which has a little thin syrup on
it. The leaf must also be covered with the syrup, and then torn by means
of two forks into small pieces about the size of a canary seed. The leaf
should not be added until the liqueur is in the bottle. The reader will
observe the common use of capillaire.[80]
GERMAN LIQUEURS.
_Eau de Sultane Zoraide._
Lemon peel, 8 ounces; orange peel, 8 ounces; figs, 8 ounces; dates, 4
ounces; jessamine flowers, 4 ounces; cinnamon, 3 ounces; spirits of wine,
60 o.p., 19 quarts; orange-flower water, 2 quarts; pure water, 12 quarts;
capillaire, 8 quarts. _Colour,[81] rose._
_Eau Nuptiale._
Parsley seed, 6 ounces; carrot seed, 5 ounces; aniseed, orris root, 2
ounces each; mace, 1½ ounces; spirit, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; rose water, 7
pints; water, 11 quarts; capillaire, 9 quarts. _Colour, yellow._
_Eau d’ Amour._
Bitter almonds, lemon peel, 12 ounces each; cinnamon, 6 ounces; mace, 1
ounce; cloves, 1½ ounces; lavender flowers, 8 ounces; spirits of wine, 60
o.p., 19 quarts; Muscat wine, 8 quarts; oil of amber, 36 drops; water 7
quarts; capillaire, 7 quarts. _Colour, rose._
_Eau de Yalpa._
Marjoram, cinnamon, 3 ounces each; fennel seed, thyme, sweet basil,
bitter almonds, figs, balm, 2 ounces each; carrot seed, sage, 1 ounce
each; cardamom, cloves, ½ ounce each; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19
quarts; essence of vanilla, 50 drops; essence of amber, 50 drams; water,
14 quarts; capillaire 8 quarts. _Colour, scarlet._
_Eau Divine._
Lemon peel, 1½ pounds; coriander, 4 ounces; mace, cardamom, 1 ounce each;
spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; oil of bergamot, 1½ drams; oil of
Neroly,[82] 2 drams; water, 14 quarts; capillaire, 8 quarts.
_Eau de Pucelle._
Juniper berries, 1½ pounds; fennel seed, 4 ounces; angelica seed,
cinnamon, 3 ounces each; cloves, 1 ounce; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19
quarts; water, 13 quarts; capillaire, 10 quarts. _Colour, yellow._
Other German liqueurs, according to our authority, are _Eau de Zelia_,
_de Rebecca_, _de Fantaisie_, _the ruby Eau des Epicuriens_, _the
Elixir Monfron_, _the Eau Divine_, _the Eau d’Orient de Napoleon_, _de
Didon_, _du Dauphin_, _de Santé_, _Royale_, _Américaine_, _de Paix_,
_de J. Saint-Aure_, _de Mille-Fleurs_, _d’Argent_, _de Montpellier_,
_d’Ardelle_, _de Turin_, _de Tubinge_, _du Sorcier-Comte_, _de Vertu_,
_de Chypre_, _de Jacques_, _Romantique_, _Crème Voizot_, _Aqua Bianca_,
and many others.
DANTZIG LIQUEURS.
_Eau Miraculeuse._
Orange peel, lemon peel, 1 pound each; cinnamon, ginger, 6 ounces each;
rosemary leaves, 2 ounces; galanga,[83] mace, cloves, 1 ounce each;
orris root, 1½ ounces; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; capillaire, 8
quarts; water, 14 quarts. _Colour, red._
_Eau Aerienne._[84]
Figs, 12 ounces; cumin, 5 ounces; leaves of rosemary, fennel seed, 4
ounces each; cinnamon, 5 ounces; sage, sassafras, 2 ounces each; lavender
flowers, camomile flowers, orris root, 4 ounces each; spirits of wine, 60
o.p., 19 quarts; capillaire, 8 quarts; water, 14 quarts.
Other Dantzig liqueurs mentioned are the _Eau de vie de Dantzig_, _Eau
Forcifère_, _Christophelet_, _Eau Carminative_, _de Musettier_, _de
Girofle_, _Persicot_, _Amer d’Angleterre_, and _Eau des Favorites_, the
ruby gold sprinkled _Eau de Lisette_, the yellow _Krambambuli_,[85] the
_Eau de Baal_, and the _Liqueur des Évèques_.
FRENCH LIQUEURS.
_Vespetro._[86]
Angelica seed, 3 ounces; coriander seed, 2 ounces; fennel seed, aniseed,
½ ounce each; lemons sliced, oranges sliced, 6 ounces each; spirits of
wine, 60 o.p., 12 quarts; water, 9½ pints; capillaire, 3 pints.
_Eau de Scubac._[87]
Lemon peel, 6 ounces; coriander, 4 ounces; aniseed, juniper berries,
cinnamon, 2 ounces each; angelica root, 1½ ounces; saffron, 1 ounce;
spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 10 quarts; orange-flower water, 2 quarts;
capillaire, 4 quarts; water, 8 quarts.
_Elixir de Garus._[88]
Myrrh, aloes, 2 drams each; cloves, nutmegs, 3 drams each; saffron, 1
ounce; cinnamon, 5 drams; spirits of wine, p., 5 quarts; sugar, 6 pounds.
_Amiable[89] Vainqueur._
Spirits of wine, p., 25 quarts; essential oil of citron, 1 ounce; of
neroli, of angelica, ½ ounce each; tincture of vanilla, 1 dram; sugar 12
pounds; water, 4 quarts.
_Guignolet[90] d’Angers._
Spirits of wine, p., 12 quarts; cherries with the stones, raspberries,
gooseberries, red currants, 1 pound each; oil of cinnamon, of cloves, 10
drops each; sugar, 7 pounds; water, 2 quarts.
_Huile des Jeunes Mariés._
Aniseed, fennel seed, 2 ounces each; angelica seed, cumin seed, caraway
seed, 1 ounce each; coriander, 3 ounces; spirits of wine, p., 4 quarts;
distilled water, 3 quarts; sugar, 10 pounds. _Colour, yellow._
Other French liqueurs worthy of notice are _Eau Archiepiscopale_, _des
Financiers_, _de Noyeau_, _de Phalsbourg_, _de Jasmin_, _des chevaliers
de Saint Louis_, _des Pacificateurs de la Grèce_, _Souvenir d’un Brave_,
_Goûte Nationale_, _Coquette Flatteuse_, _Ratafias_ of different kinds,
such as _Absinthe_, _Angelique_, _Celery_, _Quatre Graines_,[91]
_Cerises_, _Noyeau_ and _Carve_,[92] _Amour sans Fin_, _Gaîté Française_,
_Plaisir des Dames_, _Citronelle_, _Elixir Columbat_, _Eau des Chevaliers
de la Legion d’Honneur_, _Eau des Amis_, _Crème de Macaron_, and _Eau
de Pologne_, the crimson _Alkermes_, the emerald _Huile des Venus_, the
_Elixir des Anges_, the pale straw-coloured _Eau de vie d’Andaye_,[93]
the crimson _Nectar des Dieux_, and _Missilimakinac_.
The most important, or rather the most popular in this country, of the
very numerous alcoholic preparations which are flavoured, or perfumed,
or sweetened, or more commonly treated in all these three ways to be
agreeable to the taste are, placing them as they suggest themselves:—
_Kümmel_, or _Kimmel_, as it is sometimes incorrectly written, from
the German name of the herb _cumin_, is made with sweetened spirit,
generally brandy, flavoured with coriander and caraway seeds. It is
chiefly produced at Riga, and is much esteemed in Java and the Eastern
Archipelago generally.
_Maraschino_ is distilled from bruised cherries. The fruit and seed are
crushed together. It is commonly prepared in Italy and Dalmatia from a
delicately flavoured variety called _Marazques_ or _Marascas_, a small,
black, wild cherry, so named, it is said, from its bitterness. Zara, in
Dalmatia, is the principal place of production of _Maraschino_.
_Cassis_[94] (or _Cacis_) is a sort of ratafia made with the fruit of
the cassis, the vulgar French name of a species of gooseberry with black
berries.
_Noyau_, or _Crème de Noyau_, derived from the French word for a
kernel, is commonly prepared from white brandy, bitter almonds or
amygdalin, sugar candy, mace, and nutmeg. Its distinctive flavour
comes from the amygdalin, or the kernels of peaches, plums, cherries,
apricots, and other fruit. In Dominica the bark of the noyau tree
(_Cerasus occidentalis_) is used, and in France the leaves of a small
convolvulus-like tropical plant called _Ipomœa dissectis_. It is coloured
white and pink.
_Ratafias_ are called by du Verger _liqueurs de conversation_, and _eau
clairettes_ and _hypoteques_, an old term of which Menage expresses
himself unable to find the derivation as applied to a liqueur. The Master
Distiller considers them preferable to spirituous liqueurs. Procope, the
ancient Master of Paris, includes under this term liqueurs, or syrups,
as we should say, of cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, apricots,
peaches, and other fruits. He it was who first proposed the pressure of
the fruits, without infusing them entire. Some years afterwards, Breard,
one of the chiefs of the fruitery of Louis XIV., gave these liqueurs the
name of _Hypoteques_ to distinguish them. The products both of Procope
and Breard were of the highest excellence. “‘I,’ says du Verger, ‘have
always considered Procope’s Ratafias as finer and more delicate, those of
Breard softer and more flowing; but,’ he adds, ‘as tastes differ, both
their Ratafias have their approvers and their critics. It is difficult
to equal them in cold countries, either in taste or in smell.’” They are
called _Liqueurs of conversation_, because, according to this authority,
in talking after meals, you may drink of them three or four times as much
as of other liqueurs without fear of any inconvenience. Nay, they nourish
and fortify the stomach, and in addition to being pleasant to the palate,
are good friends of the liver.
The first _Ratafia_ was called _Eau de Cerises_, or cherry water. The
kernels should be added to the juice of the fruit with cinnamon and mace
in small quantities. This renders the composition beneficent, strengthens
the brain, and banishes the vapours.
The _Eau clairette de framboises_ is also composed of cherries, though
a few strawberries are added to give the dominant flavour. It should,
therefore, says the Master Distiller, be rather called _Eau clairette
framboisée_.
_L’eau clairette de groseilles_ has a specific virtue against
biliousness.
_L’eau clairette de grenade_ is the most agreeable of _Ratafias_, but has
an astringent property.
_L’eau clairette de coings_ is still more estimable than the preceding,
and imparts a new activity to the limbs.
_Eau clairette de Chamberri_ should be made of the ripest black grapes, a
small quantity of spirit of wine, a little sugar, and other ingredients.
In addition to giving an appetite, it rejoices the heart. The longer it
is kept, as in the case with all _Ratafias_, the better.
The white _Ratafias_, or _Hypoteques_, should be mixed with cinnamon,
mace, cloves, and coriander. Under these circumstances they render
the blood balsamic. The best fruits for white _Ratafias_ are oranges,
peaches, and apricots.
_Curaçoa_ derives its name from the group of small islands in the West
Indies, situated near the north shore of Venezuela, in the Caribbean Sea.
The liqueur is made in these islands by the Dutch. It is also made at
Amsterdam from orange peel imported from the Curaçoas. The bitter orange
used is the _Citrus bigaradia_.
It is commonly obtained by digesting orange peel in sweetened spirits,
and flavouring with cinnamon, cloves, or mace. The spirits employed are
usually reduced to nearly 56 under proof, and each gallon contains about
3½ pounds of sugar. _Curaçoa_ varies in colour. The darker is produced by
powdered Brazil wood, mellowed by caramel.
_Parfait Amour_ is a liqueur composed of several ingredients, such as
citron, clove, muscat, and others.
_Kirsch_, _Kirschwasser_, or _Kirschenwasser_, or cherry water, is the
genuine drink of the Black Forest. The head-quarters of this liqueur, as
Griesbach and Petersthal in the Reuch valley, are rich in cherry trees of
the Machaleb variety. H. W. Wolff, in his _Rambles_, rises into an almost
poetic description of its virtues. “It is,” he says, referring to the
Black Foresters, “their general stimulant and comforter, their consoler
in grief, their promoter of conviviality, their safety valve in trouble
or excitement.” After this, little can be added without the danger, or
rather the certainty, of _bathos_. When genuine—for alas, it shares the
common fate of drinks, adulteration—it is said to be ardent and slightly
poisonous. In other words, it contains “that excellent stomachic,
hydrocyanic acid.” Of late the Black Foresters have rivalled the Servians
in a spirit distilled from wild plums. Stolberg thinks _Kirschenwasser_
in no way inferior to the spirit made from corn at Dantzic,[95] and
others hold it equal to the Dalmatian _Maraschino_. The liqueur is also
made in Germany, France, and elsewhere.
_Pomeranzen_, or _Pomeranzen-Wasser_, somewhat resembling our orangeade,
is principally drunk in Northern Germany.
_Raspail_ was originally, as many other liqueurs, medicinal, and was so
called from the name of its inventor. Mariani has made an _Elixir à la
coca du Pérou_. This, like _Raspail_, is an agreeable tonic.
_Vermuth_[96] is composed of white wine, angelica, absinthe, and other
aromatic herbs.
Many sweet wines approach very nearly liqueurs. Of these are in Austria
some sweet wines of Transylvania and Dalmatia. In Spain, the _Tinto
d’Alicante_, and the white _Muscats_ of Malaga. In France, _Hermitage_,
_Grenache_, _Colmar_, and the _Muscats_ of Rivesaltes and of Roquevaire.
In Cyprus, _La Commanderie_. In Italy, the _Muscats_ of Vesuvius, Orvieto
and Montefiascone, the holy wine of Castiglione, the white wines of
Albano, and the aromatic wine of Chiavenna. In Greece, the _Malmseys_
of Santorin and the Ionian Isles. In Russia, the wines of _Koos_ and
_Sudach_ in the Crimea; and in Mexico, those of _Passo del Nocte_,
_Paras_, _San Luiz de la Paz_, and _Zelaya_.
In the _Widdowes Treasure_, London, 1595, are receipts for _Sirrop of
Roses_ or _Violets_, and two receipts for _Rosa Solis_, and in the
_Good Housewife’s Jewele_, London, 1596, are receipts for distilling of
_Rosemary water_, _Imperiall water_, _Sinamon water_, and the _Water of
Life_.
[Illustration]
AMERICAN DRINKS.
Cobblers—Cocktails—Flips, etc.—Punch—Varieties—A Bar
Tender—Anstey’s _Pleader’s Guide_—A Yard of Flannel—Bottled
Velvet—Rumfustian, etc.
The great authority, probably the greatest authority, on this interesting
subject is a gentleman who, with the true modesty of genius, allows
himself to be known only by the pseudonym of _Jerry Thomas_. Formerly
a bar-tender at the Metropolitan Hotel, New York, and the Planter’s
House, St. Louis, he is said to have travelled over Europe and America
in “search of all that is recondite in this branch of the spirit art.”
His very name, says one of his admirers, is synonymous in the lexicon of
mixed drinks with all that is rare and original.
Among the chief American drinks are, being alphabetically arranged,
_cobblers_, _cocktails_, _cups_, _flips_, _juleps_, _mulls_, _nectars_,
_neguses_, _noggs_, _punches_—of which there are at least three
score—_sangarees_, _shrubs_, _slings_, _smashes_, and _toddies_.[97]
The _cobbler_ is an American invention, though now common in other
countries. It requires small skill in its composition, but should be
arranged to please the eye. Of this drink the straw is the leading
characteristic.
The _cocktail_ is a comparatively modern discovery. In this drink
_Bogart’s Bitters_ occupies invariably a prominent place. The _Crusta_
is an improvement on the _cocktail_, and is said to have been invented
by Santina, a celebrated Spanish caterer. Its _differentia_ is a small
quantity of lemon juice and a little lump of ice. The paring of a lemon
must also line the glass, from which feature it probably derives its name.
_Flip_ has been immortalised by Dibdin as the favourite beverage of
sailors, though it has been asserted that they seldom drink it; a
somewhat hazardous statement, unless limited to the times in which there
is none to be had. The essential feature in _a flip_ is repeated pouring
between two vessels, supposed to produce smoothness in the drink. The
Slang Dictionary holds _flip_ to be synonymous with _Flannel_, the old
term for gin and beer drunk hot with nutmeg, sugar, etc., a play on the
old name _lamb’s wool_. The anecdote of Goldsmith drinking _flannel_ in a
night-house with George Parker, Ned Shuter, and the demure, grave-looking
gentleman, is well known.
[Illustration: MINT JULEP.]
The _julep_ is especially popular in the Southern States, and is
said to have been introduced into England by Captain Marryatt. That
romance-writing seaman in his work on _America_, says: “I must descant a
little upon the _mint julep_, as it is, with the thermometer at 100°, one
of the most delightful and insinuating potations that ever was invented,
and may be drunk with equal satisfaction when the thermometer is as low
as 70°. There are many varieties, such as those composed of _Claret_,
_Madeira_, etc., but the ingredients of the real _mint julep_ are as
follows. I learned how to make them, and succeeded pretty well.” Then
follows the receipt:—
“Put into a tumbler about a dozen sprigs of the tender shoots of mint,
upon them put a spoonful of white sugar, and equal proportions of peach
and common brandy so as to fill it up one-third, or perhaps a little
less. Then take rasped or pounded ice and fill up the tumbler. Epicures
rub the lips of the tumbler with a piece of fresh pine apple, and the
tumbler itself is very often incrusted outside with stalactites of ice.
As the ice melts, you drink.”
“I once,” says the marine author of this receipt, of which the reader
has _ipsissima verba_, “I once overheard two ladies talking in the next
room to me, and one of them said, ‘Well, if I have a weakness for any one
thing, it is for a _mint julep_!’”
This weakness of the American lady was, in the opinion of the
Metropolitan Hotel barman in New York, very amiable, and proved, not only
her good taste, but her good sense.
In _mulls_, which may be made of any kind of wine, the essential feature
is the boiling. Sugar and spice, of which the nursery song tells us
little girls are manufactured, are also invariably used in _mulls_. We
give a rhymed receipt for mulled wine, not for the sake of the poetry,
which is indifferent, but for that of the cookery, which is not bad.
“First, my dear madam, you must take
Nine eggs, which carefully you’ll break,
Into a bowl you’ll drop the white,
The yolks into another by it.”
Here the poet was evidently hard pressed for a rhyme.
“Let Betsy beat the whites with switch,
Till they appear quite frothed and rich;
Another hand the yolks must beat
With sugar, which will make them sweet.”
An ordinary effect of sugar. Poet probably hard pressed as before.
“Three or four spoonfuls maybe’ll do,
Though some perhaps would take but two.
Into a skillet next you’ll pour
A bottle of good wine, or more;
Put half a pint of water, too,
Or it may prove too strong for you.”