Take 6 gallons of good cider,
1½ gallons of port wine,
1½ gallons of the juice of elder-berries,
3 quarts of brandy,
1½ ounces of cochineal.
This will produce nine gallons and a half.
Bruise the cochineal very fine, and put it with the brandy into
a stone bottle; let it remain at least a fortnight, shaking it
well once or twice a day; at the end of that time to procure the
cider, and put five gallons into a nine gallon cask, add to it the
elder juice and port wine, then the brandy and cochineal. Take the
remaining gallon of cider to rinse out the bottle that contained
the brandy; and lastly, pour it into the cask, and bung it down
very close, and in six weeks it will be fit for bottling.
It is, however, sometimes not quite so fine as could be wished;
in that case add two ounces of isinglass, and let it remain a
fortnight or three weeks longer, when it will be perfectly bright;
it would not be amiss, perhaps, if the quantity of isinglass
mentioned, was added to the wine before it was bunged down, it
will tend, very considerably, to improve the body of the wine. If
it should not appear sufficiently rough flavoured, add an ounce,
or an ounce and a half of roche-alum, which will, in most cases,
impart a sufficient astringency.
After it is bottled it must be packed in as cool a place as
possible. It will be fit for using in a few months; but if kept
longer, it will be greatly improved.