Part 16

Take a pint of orange-flower water, a pint of rose-water, and half a pint of myrtle-water; to these put a quarter of an ounce of distilled spirit of musk, and an ounce of spirit of ambergris. Shake the whole well together, and the process will be finished.

358. ROSE WATER.

Take of the leaves of fresh damask roses, with the heels cut off, 6 lbs. water, as much as to prevent burning. Distil off a gallon.

The distilled waters should be drawn from dried herbs, because the fresh cannot be got at all times in the year. Whenever the fresh are used the weights must be increased; but whether the fresh or dry are made use of, it is left to the judgment of the operator to vary the weight, according as the plants are in greater or less perfection, owing to the season in which they grew or were collected.

359. STRAWBERRY WATER.

Take of the bruised fruit, 20 lbs. water a sufficient quantity. Draw off two gallons and a half: this water is very fragrant.

360. COMMON DISTILLED WATER.

Take of water, 10 gallons. Distil. Throw away the first ⅓ gallon, and draw off four gallons, which keep in glass or stone ware.

Distilled water is used as a diet drink in cancerous diseases, and should be used in making medicines when the salts contained in common water would decompose them.

COMPOUND DISTILLED WATERS.

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361. GENERAL RULES FOR THE DISTILLATION OF SPIRITUOUS WATERS.

1. The plants and their parts ought to be moderately and newly dried, except such as are ordered to be fresh gathered.

2. After the ingredients have been steeped in the spirit for the time prescribed, add as much water as is sufficient to prevent a burnt flavour, or rather more.

3. The liquor which comes over first in distillation is by some kept by itself, under the title of spirit; and the other runnings, which prove milky, are fined down by art. But it is preferable to mix all the runnings together, without fining them, that the waters may possess the virtues of the plant entire.

4. In the distillation of these waters, the genuine brandy obtained from wine is directed.

Where this is not to be procured, take, instead of that proof spirit, half its quantity of a well rectified spirit, prepared from any other fermented liquors. In this steep the ingredients, and then add spring water enough, both to make up the quantity ordered to be drawn off, and to prevent burning.

362. BERGAMOT WATER.

Take of fine old French brandy, 2 gallons, or 1 gallon of highly rectified spirit of wine, and 1 gallon of spring water. Put to the brandy, or diluted spirits, ½ an ounce, or more, of true Roman oil of bergamot, whose parts have been previously well divided by trituration with lump sugar, in a glass mortar.

Now distil by a water heat, and draw off six quarts only. By this operation, a most excellent bergamot water will be produced, which will remain good for twenty years.

363. ORIGINAL RECEIPT FOR HUNGARY WATER.

The original receipt for preparing this invaluable lotion, is written in letters of gold in the hand-writing of Elizabeth, queen of Hungary.

Take of aque vitæ, four times distilled, 3 parts, the tops and flowers of rosemary, 2 parts. To be put together in a close-stopped vessel, and allowed to stand in a warm place, during fifty hours, then to be distilled in an alembic, and of this, once every week, 1 drachm to be taken in the morning, either in the food or drink, and every morning the face and the deceased limb to be washed with it.

364. _Best Hungary Water._

Take thirty gallons of spirit of wine; put to it, in a large still, six large bunches of fine green rosemary, when the flowers are white, and in full bloom; one pound of lavender-flowers, and four ounces of true English oil of rosemary. The rosemary-leaves and flowers must be stripped from all their wood and green twigs.

When the whole has been in a state of digestion for twenty-four hours, distil as before, drawing off about twenty-five or twenty-six gallons, but no more. When distilled, stop it closely in a copper vessel, and keep it undisturbed for about a month.

365. LAVENDER SPIRIT.

Take 14 pounds of lavender flowers, 10½ gallons of rectified spirit of wine, and one gallon of water; draw off 10 gallons by a gentle fire; or, which is much better, by a sand bath heat.

366. LAVENDER WATER.

Take 30 gallons of the best wine spirit; pour it into a copper still, placed in a hot-water bath, over a clear but steady fire; put to it 6 pounds of the largest and freshest lavender flowers, after having separated them from all stalks and green leaves, which give the lavender-water a woody and faint smell. Put no water into the still, close all the junctures well, and let the spirits and flowers stand in a state of digestion for 24 hours; and then, with a gentle fire, draw off 25, or, at most, 26 gallons only, which, as soon as distilled, are to be poured into a copper vessel, for keeping. Wooden vessels and cans are to be avoided, as the best parts of the oil, and of the spirits, will be absorbed by them and consequently lost.

When the distillation is over, draw out, or quench the fire, and let the remaining spirits and flowers continue in the still until the next day.

When the above quantity of 25 or 26 gallons has stood for 4 or 5 days, put it to ten ounces of true English oil of lavender. Mix the whole well in the jar, by drawing out one or two gallons, and then returning them. Repeat this ten or twelve times, then stop the vessel up close, and do not disturb it for a month, at least.

367. _Lavender Water, of the second order._

To the four or five gallons of the spirits, and the lavender flowers left in the still, after the distillation mentioned in the last article, add 15 gallons of common proof spirit, 9 or 10 gallons of spring water, 3 pounds of lavender flowers, and 4 ounces of oil of lavender, intimately mixed with loaf-sugar, by powdering it in a glass mortar.

Digest the whole, and draw off 25 gallons, proceeding in every respect as before, except that in this case, no oil is to be added; for, as there is so much water present, the addition of oil would be apt to turn the whole quantity muddy, or of a bluish or opaque colour, which it cannot be easily freed from, without a second distillation.

368. _Lavender Water, for immediate use._

Mix with one gallon of proof spirit, 1¼ ounce of true English oil of lavender, which is all that will properly combine with the spirit, without injuring the colour, by rendering it muddy. When the spirit and the oil are properly mixed, they are to be put into glass bottles, which are to be well stopped, and ought to be shaken before used.

369. _Perfumed Lavender Water._

Distil by a gentle heat in a sand or water-bath; or, mix and shake frequently during fourteen days, the following ingredients: 1 ounce of foreign oil of lavender, ½ ditto of English ditto, ½ ditto of essence of ambergris, and 1 gallon of rectified spirit of wine.

370. LEMON WATER.

The peel of the lemon, the part used in making this water, is a very grateful bitter aromatic, and, on that account, very serviceable in repairing and strengthening the stomach.

Take of dried lemon-peel, 4 lbs. proof spirit, 10½ gallons, and 1 gallon of water. Draw off ten gallons by a gentle fire.

371. SPIRIT OF PEPPERMINT.

Take of the herb of peppermint, dried, 1½ lbs. proof spirit, 1 gallon, water, sufficient to prevent burning. Distil off a gallon.

372. COMPOUND GENTIAN WATER.

Take of gentian-root, sliced, 3 lbs.; leaves and flowers of the lesser centaury, each 8 ounces; infuse the whole in 6 quarts of proof spirit, and 1 quart of water; and draw off the water till the feints begin to rise.

373. SPIRIT OF SCURVY-GRASS.

Take of scurvy-grass, fresh gathered and bruised, 15 pounds; horse-radish root, 6 pounds; rectified spirit of wine, 1 gallon; and water three pints. Digest the whole in a close vessel two days, and draw off a gallon with a gentle fire.

374. ANTISCORBUTIC WATER.

Take of the leaves of water-cresses, garden and sea scurvy-grass, and brook-lime, each 20 handsful; of pine-tops, germander, horehound, and the lesser centaury, each 16 handsful; of the roots of bryony and sharp pointed dock, each 6 pounds; of mustard-seed, 1½ pounds. Digest the whole in 10 gallons of proof spirit, and 2 gallons of water, and draw off by a gentle fire.

ACID LIQUORS.

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375. VINEGAR.

Vinegar is used chiefly as a sauce, and to preserve vegetable substances; but it is employed externally when an over dose of strong wine, spirit, opium, or other narcotic poison has been taken. A false strength is given to it by adding oil of vitriol, or some acrid vegetable, as pellitory of Spain, capsicum, &c. It is rendered colourless by adding fresh burned bone black, 6 ounces to a gallon, and letting it stand for two or three days to clear.

376. TO MAKE VINEGAR.

Mix cider and honey, in the proportion of 1 lb. of honey to a gallon of cider, and let it stand in a vessel for some months, and vinegar will be produced so powerful, that water must be mixed with it for common use.

377. _Another Method._

Scheele, a celebrated chymist, has recommended the following recipe: Take 6 spoonsful of good alcohol; to this, add 3 pints of milk, and put the mixture into vessels to be corked close. Vent must be given from time to time to the gas of fermentation. In the course of a month, this will produce very good vinegar.

378. _Another._

Put into a barrel, of sufficient dimensions, a mixture composed of 41 wine pints of water, about 8 pints of whiskey, (_l’eau de vin de grain_) about 2 wine pints of yeast, and 2 pounds of charcoal, and place it in a proper situation for fermentation. At the end of four months a very good vinegar will be formed, as clear and as white as water.

379. COMMON VINEGAR.

This is made from weak malt liquor, brewed for the purpose; its various strength is, in England, denoted by numbers, from 18 to 24.

380. _Another._

To every gallon of water put 1 lb. of coarse Lisbon sugar; let the mixture be boiled, and skimmed as long as any scum arises. Then let it be poured into proper vessels; and when it is as cool as beer, when worked, let a toast, rubbed over with yeast, be put to it. Let it work about 24 hours, and then put it into an iron-hooped cask, fixed either near a constant fire, or where the summer sun shines the greater part of the day; in this situation it should not be closely stopped up; but a tile, or something similar, should be laid on the bung-hole, to keep out the dust and insects. At the end of about three months (sometimes less) it will be clear and fit for use, and may be bottled off. The longer it is kept, after it is bottled, the better it will be. If the vessel containing the liquor is to be exposed to the sun’s heat, the best time to begin making it is in the month of April.

381. WINE VINEGAR.

Take any sort of wine that has gone through fermentation, and put it into a cask that has had vinegar in it; then take some of the fruit or stalks of which the wine has been made, and put them wet into an open-headed cask in the sun, with a coarse cloth over the top of it, for six days—after which put them in the vinegar, and stir it well about—then put it in a warm place, if in winter, or if in summer, put it in a yard in the sun, with a slate over the bung. When the vinegar is sour enough and fine, rack it off into a clean sour cask, and bung it up; then put it in the cellar for use. Those wines that contain the most mucilage are fittest for the purpose.

The lees of pricked wine are also a very proper ingredient in vinegar.

382. SUGAR VINEGAR.

To each gallon of water add 2 lbs. of brown sugar, and a little yeast; leave it exposed to the sun for six months, in a vessel slightly stopped.

383. GOOSEBERRY VINEGAR.

Bruise the gooseberries, when ripe, and to every quart put three quarts of water; stir them well together, and let the whole stand for 24 hours, then strain it through a canvas bag.

To every gallon of liquor add 1 lb. of brown sugar, and stir them well together before they are put into the cask. Proceed in all other respects as before. This vinegar possesses a pleasant taste and smell; but raspberry vinegar, which may be made on the same plan, is far superior in these respects. The raspberries are not required to be of the best sort, still, they should be ripe and well flavoured.

384. CURRANT VINEGAR.

This is made in the same way as that from gooseberries, only pick off the currants from the stalks.

385. PRIMROSE VINEGAR.

To 15 quarts of water put 6 lbs. of brown sugar; let it boil ten minutes, and take off the scum: pour on it half a peck of primroses; before it is quite cold, put in a little fresh yeast, and let it work in a warm place all night; put it in a barrel in the kitchen, and when done working, close the barrel, still keeping it in a warm place.

386. RAISIN VINEGAR.

After making raisin wine, lay the pressed raisins in a heap to heat, then to each cwt. put 15 gallons of water, and a little yeast.

387. CIDER VINEGAR.

The poorest sort of cider will serve for vinegar, in managing which proceed thus:—

First draw off the cider into a cask that has had vinegar in it before; then put some of the apples that have been pressed into it, set the whole in the sun, and in a week or nine days it may be drawn off into another cask.—This is a good table vinegar.

388. VINEGAR FROM THE REFUSE OF FRUITS.

Take the skins of raisins after they have been used in making wine, and pour three times their own quantity of boiling water on them; stir them well about, and then set the cask in a warm place, close covered, and the liquor, in a week, when drawn off from its sediment, put into another cask, and well bunged down, will be a good vinegar for the table.

389. VINEGAR FROM THE REFUSE OF BEE-HIVES.

When honey is extracted from the combs, by means of pressure, take the whole mass, break and separate it, and into each tub or vessel, put one part of combs and two of water; place them in the sun, or in a warm place, and cover them with cloths. Fermentation takes place in a few days, and continues from 8 to 12 days, according to the higher or lower temperature of the situation in which the operation is carried on. During the fermentation, stir the matter from time to time, and press it down with the hands, that it may be perfectly soaked. When the fermentation is over, put the matter to drain upon sieves or strainers. At the bottom of the vessels will be found a yellow liquor, which must be thrown away, because it would soon contract a disagreeable smell, which it would communicate to the vinegar. Then wash the tubs, put into them the water separated from the other matter; it immediately begins to turn sour; when the tubs must be again covered with cloths, and kept moderately warm. A pellicle, or skin, is formed on their surface, beneath which the vinegar acquires strength; in a month’s time it begins to be sharp; it must be left standing a little longer, and then put into a cask, of which the bung-hole is left open. It may then be used like any other vinegar.

390. TO STRENGTHEN VINEGAR.

Suffer it to be repeatedly frozen, and separate the upper cake of ice, or water, from it.

All vinegars owe their principal strength to the acetic acid they contain; but the vinegar of wine contains also tartar, a small portion of the malic acid, alcohol, and colouring matter; that of eider contains merely the malic acid, little or no alcohol, and a yellowish colouring matter.

391. VINEGARS FROM ORANGE AND ELDER FLOWERS, CLOVE-GILLIFLOWERS, MUSK-ROSES, &c.

Dry an ounce of either of the above flowers, (except the orange flowers, which will not bear drying,) for two days in the sun; then put them into a bottle, pour on them a pint of vinegar, closely stop the bottle, and infuse 15 days in moderate heat of the sun. Vinegars of any other flowers, as tarragon, &c. may be made in a similar manner.

392. DISTILLED VINEGAR.

This is obtained from vinegar by distillation, rejecting the 4th or 8th part that comes over first, and avoiding its acquiring a burnt flavour.

Distilled vinegar is weaker than the common, but is used sometimes in pickles, where its want of colour is an advantage.

393. IMPROVED DISTILLED VINEGAR.

Obtained from wood distilled in large iron cylinders for the manufacture of charcoal for gunpowder; when rectified it is used for all the purposes of distilled vinegar.

394. TO MAKE STRONG ACETOUS ACID.

Take of vitriol, calcined to whiteness, 1 lb. sugar of lead, 10 drachms, Rub together and distil.

395. _Another_.

Take of sugar of lead, 7 lbs. oil of vitriol 4½ lbs. Distil 2½ lbs. This is used to make aromatic vinegar.

396. HONEY WATER FOR THE HAIR.

Take of honey, 4 lbs. very dry sand, 2 lbs. Mix and put into a vessel that will hold five times as much; distil with a gentle heat a yellowish acid water: this acid greatly encourages the growth of hair.

397. DEPHLOGISTICATED SPIRIT OF SALT.

Take of common salt, 3 lbs. manganese, 1 lb. oil of vitriol, 2 lbs. water, 1 lb. Distil, placing a sufficient quantity of water in the receiver.

This spirit is of a pale greenish yellow, and scarcely heavier than water. It bleaches linen, straw, and takes out fruit spots, iron moulds, or ink marks.

MISCELLANEOUS BEVERAGES.

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398. TO MAKE GINGER BEER.

Take of good Jamaica ginger, 2½ oz. Moist sugar, 3 lbs. cream of tartar, 1 oz. the juice and peel of 2 middling sized lemons, brandy ½ pint, good solid ale yeast, ¼ pint, water, 3½ gallons.

This will produce 4½ dozen of excellent ginger beer, which will keep twelve months. Bruise the ginger and sugar, and boil them for 20 or 25 minutes in the water, slice the lemon and put it and the cream of tartar into a large pan; pour the boiling liquor upon them, stir it well round, and when milk-warm, add the yeast; cover it over, let it remain two or three days to work, skimming it frequently; then strain it through a jelly-bag into a cask, add the brandy, bung down very close, and at the end of a fortnight or three weeks, draw it off and bottle, and cork very tight; tie the cork down with twine or wire. If it does not work well at first, add a little more yeast, but be careful of adding too much, least it taste of it.

399. SPRUCE BEER.

Take, if white is intended, 6 lbs. of sugar; if brown, as much treacle, and a pot of spruce, and ten gallons of water.

This is also managed in the same way as ginger beer, except that it should be bottled as soon as it has done working.

400. BROWN SPRUCE BEER.

Pour 8 gallons of cold water into a barrel, and then boiling 8 gallons more, put that in also, add 12 lbs. of molasses, with about ½ lb. of the essence of spruce; and on its getting a little cooler, ½ a pint of good ale yeast. The whole being well stirred or rolled in the barrel, must be left with the bung out for two or three days; after which the liquor may be immediately bottled, well corked up, and packed in saw-dust or sand, when it will be ripe, and fit to drink in a fortnight.

Remember, that it should be drawn off into quart stone bottles, and wired.

401. WHITE SPRUCE BEER.

For a cask of six gallons, mix well together ¼ lb. of the purest essence of spruce, 7 lbs. of loaf-sugar made into a clarified syrup, and about 1½ gallons of hot water; and when sufficiently stirred and incorporated; put it into the cask, and fill up with cold water. Then add about a ¼ of a pint of good ale yeast, shake the cask well, and let it work for three or four days: after which, bung it up. In a few days it may be bottled off after the usual manner, and in a week or ten days it will be fit for use. If, on bunging it close, about ¼ of an oz. of isinglass, first dissolved in a little of the warmed liquor, or in cider, be stirred in, by way of fining, it will acquire a superior degree of clearness. In proportion to the coldness of the weather, the quantity of yeast should be increased. Some, instead of yeast, use ale or beer-grounds the first time of making, and afterwards the grounds of their former spruce beer. In warm weather, very little ferment is requisite.

402. SELTZER WATER.

Take of water any quantity. Impregnate it with about ten times its volume of carbonic acid gas, by means of a forcing pump.

403. LIQUID MAGNESIA.

Take of water 1 gallon, carbonate of magnesia, 3 drachms, and impregnate it as above.

404. POTASS WATER.

Take one ounce of subcarbonate of potass, and impregnate as above.

405. SODA WATER.

Take 2 ounces of subcarbonate of soda, and impregnate as above.

406. PORTABLE LEMONADE.

Take of tartaric acid, ½ oz. loaf sugar, 3 oz. essence of lemon, ½ drachm. Powder the tartaric acid and the sugar very fine, in a marble or wedgewood mortar, (observe never to use a metal one) mix them together, and pour the essence of lemon upon them, by a few drops at a time, stirring the mixture after each addition, till the whole is added, then mix them thoroughly, and divide it into twelve equal parts, wrapping each up separately in a piece of white paper. When wanted for use, it is only necessary to dissolve it in a tumbler of cold water, and fine lemonade will be obtained, containing the flavour of the juice and peel of the lemon, and ready sweetened.

407. TO MAKE CHOCOLATE.

To make good chocolate, put the milk and water on to boil; then scrape the chocolate fine, from one to two squares to a pint, to suit the stomach: when the milk and water boils, take it off the fire; throw in the chocolate; mill it well, and serve it up with the froth; which process will not take 5 minutes. The sugar may either be put in with the scraped chocolate or added afterwards.

It should never be made before it is wanted; because heating again injures the flavour, destroys the froth, and separates the body of the chocolate; the oil of the nut being observed, after a few minutes’ boiling, or even standing long by the fire, to rise to the top, which is the only cause this chocolate can offend the most delicate stomach.

408. TO MAKE COFFEE.

To have coffee _in perfection_, it should be made from the best production, carefully roasted, and after cooling for a few minutes, reduced to powder, and immediately infused; the tincture will then be of a superior description. But for common use, the coffee of our own plantations is, in general, of very good quality.

In England, too little powder of the berry is commonly given. It requires about one small cup of coffee-powder to make four cups of tincture for the table. This is at the rate of an ounce of good powder to four common coffee-cups. When the powder is put in the bag, as many cups of boiling water is poured over it as may be wanted.