Part 13
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._
Put 2 drachms each, of tincture of ambergris, and tincture of musk, in a quart of rectified spirit of wine, and half a pint of water; filter and put it up in small bottles.
270. OTTAR OF ROSES.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh received from Dr. Monro the following account of the manner in which this costly perfume is prepared in the east. Steep a large quantity of the petals of the rose, freed from every extraneous matter, in pure water, in an earthen or wooden vessel, which is exposed daily to the sun, and housed at night, till a scum rises to the surface. This is the _ottar_, which carefully absorb by a very small piece of cotton tied to the end of a stick. The oil collected, squeeze out of the cotton into a very diminutive vial, stop it for use. The collection of it should be continued, whilst any scum is produced.
271. ENGLISH MILK OF ROSES.
Take 2 lbs. of Jordan almonds, 5 quarts of rose water, 1 do. of rectified spirit of wine, ½ an oz. of oil of lavender, 2 oz. of Spanish oil-soap, and 4 oz. of cream of roses. Blanch the almonds in boiling water, dry them well in a cloth, then pound them in a mortar until they become a paste. Pound in the soap and mix it well with the almond paste. Then add the cream of roses. When these are mixed, add the rose-water and spirits, which stir in with a spatula or knife. Strain the whole through a clean white cloth, then add the oil of lavender to the expressed liquid, drop by drop, and stir the whole well. When the mixture has stood for a day, cover it over with a cloth from the dust, then bottle it for use.
272. FRENCH MILK OF ROSES.