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.
