Aerated Drinks

Aerated Drinks.—These may be divided into two classes, alkaline and saccharine. The alkaline, usually called mineral waters, are such as soda, seltzer, potass, &c.; while the saccharine are those which contain a portion of sugar, such as ginger beer, lemonade, and the various drinks made from the syrups. The alkaline mixtures after settling in the tanks, are usually passed through a lawn sieve, and then pumped through the machine, which impregnates them with carbonic acid gas. Saccharine drinks do not undergo this process, but a given quantity is put into each bottle or siphon, and the aerated water is forced into the bottle on it.

Either hard or soft water may be used for aerated drinks, so long as it is pure; when any doubt exists, it is always best to have it filtered. When a choice of water can be had, use hard or spring water for saccharine drinks.

The following recipes may be varied considerably. Some of the best beverages have been produced by mixing several of the essences together, and altering the colour. In all these drinks it is the essence that is used, as the fresh fruit will not do for bottle goods; while for the fountain drinks, the fresh fruit, being consumed as soon as mixed, forms a creamy beverage much in demand.

In all cases, in warm weather, it is advisable to have the factory as cool as possible, and more particularly the water. It is a good system and is employed in many factories, to have the pump of the machine surrounded with ice, the refrigerator being external; any kind of ice may be used.

In regard to the machinery, fountains, &c., used in the manufacture and dispensing of aerated beverages the reader is referred to the catalogues of the various manufacturers of the same.

Saccharine drinks are never pumped through a machine, but a given quantity of the syrup is put into each bottle by means of a syrup measure-tap, or better still, a syrup pump attached to the filling machine, and the aerated water is bottled on it.

Following are the principal saccharine aerated beverages:—

Champagne Cider.—This is lemonade syrup flavoured with pear essence, and coloured with the sugar colouring.

Gingerade.—(1) Mix 5 oz. essence of cayenne, 5 oz. essence of ginger, and 5 oz. water; (2) dissolve 3 lb. citric acid in ½ gal. hot water; (3) dissolve 4 oz. magnesia and 20 lb. fine loaf sugar in 3¼ gal. pure water. Filter the first compound and add 7 oz., also 14 oz. of the second, to the third; there will be no cloudiness; bottle at a pressure of 70 to 80 lb., using 1 oz. syrup to a bottle.

Ginger Ale.—This is ginger-beer syrup coloured slightly with sugar or saffron colouring. An addition of pineapple will also greatly improve the flavour. Bottle as for lemonade. Add albumen compound, q.s.

Ginger Beer.—This is lemonade syrup flavoured with essence of ginger and capsicine. The soluble essence of ginger is added to the syrup by dropping the quantity required on to pieces of sugar, when the syrup is lukewarm; the palate will be the best guide for quantity, as the essences vary much in strength. The albumen compound is to be added at the same time as the essence; bottle as for lemonade, using ¾ oz. to a bottle.

(a) A strong ginger beer is made by boiling with every gallon of water, 2 lb. loaf sugar, and 1 oz. bruised ginger, 1 oz. cream of tartar, and one small lemon, sliced. To the cooled mixture some yeast is added, and the whole is set aside for fermentation. When the tumultuous fermentation is over, the liquid is bottled. Ginger beer thus made is, when properly fermented, of considerable alcoholic strength, equal at least to the strongest Scotch ale.

(b) Keeps for many months. Take white sugar, 20 lb.; lime juice, 18 (fluid) oz.; honey, 1 lb.; bruised ginger, 22 oz.; water, 18 gal. Of course the quantities can be modified. Boil the ginger in 3 gal. water for ½ hour, the sugar, the lime juice, and the honey with the remainder of the water, and strain through a cloth. When cold, add the white of one egg and ½ oz. (fluid) essence of lemon. After standing four days, bottle.

(c) Boil a sliced lemon with 1 oz. ground ginger in ½ pint water for ½ hour; stand to settle, and pour off clear part into a vessel containing 5 qt. cold water; add 1 lb. lump sugar and 1 oz. cream of tartar; ferment with 2 oz. German or other yeast spread on toast or plain bread; stand to ferment in warm place; cover from dust; bottle soon as fermented; drink in three days.

(d) White sugar, 1 lb.; cream of tartar and ginger, each 1 oz.; honey, 2 oz.; lemons, 2; water, 2 gal.; tartaric acid, 40 gr.; white of an egg. Bruise the ginger, and let the water boil for 10 minutes; pour it on the cream of tartar, sugar, and lemons. Let it stand till cold, then add white of an egg and a tablespoonful of yeast; let it work 6 hours, then add tartaric acid and bottle directly.

(e) Put into a 30 gallon brew 2 lb. of good fresh brewer’s yeast, and stir it up well. Now allow it to ferment, taking care that there shall be a gradual rise in temperature during fermentation. Skim the yeast off carefully until the beer is ready for bottling (which will not be under 24 hours), then add your eggs, and bottle quickly. After bottling lay the bottles down, as they will mature better than if standing up. The eggs have no effect on the strength of the beer. The barm should not be skimmed off too often; it is necessary to allow a good head to form before skimming. About three times should be sufficient. 70° F. is too high a temperature to commence a fermentation; better commence at 63° or 64° F. Beat up the eggs with a birch rod, mixing well with 2 or 3 pints of beer; add it to the beer after the fermentation is finished, then well mix the whole together and bottle. If the fermentation has been conducted properly, it will not be necessary to rack into a clean cask before fining and bottling. Use sufficient yeast (2 lb.), avoid skimming too often, and do not have the liquor too hot.

Ginger Champagne.—This refreshing and agreeable beverage is, according to a French recipe, made as follows:—Take 60 gal. water; add 40 lb. ginger cut in small pieces, and gently boil for ½ hour, carefully removing any froth that may arise. Cool the liquor as quickly as possible, and when at a blood-heat (100° F.) add 9 lb. raisins chopped fine, and the juice of 6 doz. oranges and 6 doz. lemons. Allow the liquid to ferment, and after standing a month it may be bottled in the usual manner. If desired, the ginger may be omitted, and the number of oranges increased to 18 doz.

Lemonade.—(a) A difference of opinion exists as to whether this syrup is best by simmering over a slow fire, or by merely pouring boiling water on the ingredients; but this is greatly influenced by the quality of the water used. The quantity of sugar and citric acid used to a gallon of syrup is also subject to variation, as some like it more acidulated than others. The usual proportions are 27 lb. loaf sugar and 12 oz. citric acid, previously dissolved, to 3 gal. water. Simmer over a slow fire for 5 minutes; carefully skim it and strain through a felt bag while hot; when cooled down to the warmth of new milk, add about ½ oz. oil of lemon. A slight head is considered an improvement, to produce which add about ½ oz. of the French gum extract to 1 gal. syrup; 1 oz. of syrup is to be put into the bottle, and the aerated water bottled on it at a pressure of 90 to 100 lb.

(b) Rinse out with boiling water an earthen glazed vessel, to warm it; put into it about 27 lb. loaf sugar and 12 oz. citric acid, previously dissolved in a small quantity of boiling water; stir occasionally, and when properly dissolved, strain it through a felt bag. Drop oil of lemon on some large lumps of sugar till they have taken up ½ oz.; when the mixture has cooled down to the warmth of new milk, drop in the lumps of sugar, and see that they are dissolved before proceeding to use it. Tartaric acid may be used in place of citric acid, but it is not so good. Use 1 oz. to each bottle, and bottle as for (a).

As lemonade syrup forms the basis for so many of the saccharine drinks, it may be as well to state that some makers prefer to use less water, as well as to vary the proportions of citric acid and sugar; it is also considered an improvement to add a drop or two of otto of roses to each gallon of syrup; this, without adding at all to the quality of the drink, throws off a pleasant aroma on the opening of a bottle. Caramel is used for a strong colour.

Nectar.—This is lemonade syrup, flavoured with the essence of pineapple.

Orange Champagne.—Take 7 gal. water, 20 oz. citric acid, 54 lb. sugar. When cold add to each gallon 3½ oz. orange tincture; colour to fancy (sugar colouring), add ¼ oz. albumen compound at the rate of 1½ oz. to a ½ pint bottle. This is a very delicious drink, and should be put up in champagne bottles; a special corking machine is required, and also a better cork than the one used for lemonade.

Pepper Punch.—Take 1¼ oz. concentrated punch to 1 gal. plain syrup; mix well; add a few drops essence of capsicine. About 1½ oz. of the syrup for each bottle, filling up with aerated water.

Tonic Lemonade.—Lemonade syrup flavoured with quinine, using the same quantity as for tonic water; or to suit the palate.

The chief ingredient in all saccharine aerated drinks is the syrup. This is formed by making concentrated solutions of sugar in pure water, or in water containing the principles of various flavouring substances; the former are called simple, and the latter compound syrups.

There are many precautions to be taken in order to ensure the production of good syrups, the most important being, perhaps, the selection of the sugar. Cane-sugar only should be used, and that should be perfectly refined. The least shade of colour in the sugar is due to the presence of impurities, and syrup prepared from such sugar not only has an unpleasant flavour, but is also very difficult to keep. The use of common or brown sugar may be regarded, in many cases, as an adulteration.

Syrups are very easily prepared. A hemispherical copper basin, not tinned, but well polished, and kept scrupulously clean, is the apparatus employed. This basin stands on three legs, and is furnished with a false bottom, which is also hemispherical. The two hemispheres are surrounded by a copper cylinder, fitted with a lid; the three parts of the apparatus are fixed together by means of two circular iron rings, which are fitted to the circumference of the hemispheres and to the bottom of the cylinder, the whole being well pinned or bolted together. A stop-cock in the outer hemisphere communicates by means of a short pipe with the inner one, and serves to withdraw the contents. Another cock, placed almost at the top, serves for the admission of steam between the two bottoms; and the condensed water is drawn off by means of a third cock communicating only with the outer bottom, and placed at a short distance from the first. The whole apparatus may be of any convenient size. Its chief advantage is that the syrup can be heated to the required degree with the utmost nicety; the steam is admitted until this degree is reached, and the supply may then be stopped in a moment, thus ensuring perfect regularity of working.

There are many circumstances which tend to produce changes in syrups when made, and to cause them to degenerate and become worthless; these must be carefully guarded against. The most common is fermentation; this may be either the result of too short or too long-continued boiling; or of the presence of an excess of mucilaginous substances; or an imperfect clarification of the syrup will also produce it in the course of time. But the most frequent cause of fermentation is found in leaving the syrup in a warm place, or in vessels which are not completely filled, and especially if they happen to have been wet when the syrup was introduced. In order to guard against under or over-boiling of simple syrups, it should be laid down as a rule that they stand at 32° B. when boiling, and when cold at 34° B. in winter, and 35° B. in summer. They should then be bottled, and stored in a cool cellar.

In the preparation of syrups, which are solutions of sugar, more or less strong according to the object for which they are used, care should be taken to employ only the best refined sugar, and either distilled or filtered rain-water, as they will be rendered much less liable to spontaneous decomposition, and become perfectly transparent without the trouble of clarifying. When, however, impure sugar is employed, clarification is always necessary. This is best done by dissolving the sugar in the water or fruit juices cold, and then beating up a little of the cold syrup with some white of egg and 1 or 2 oz. cold water, until the mixture froths well; this must be added to the syrup in the boiler, and when the whole is frisked up to a good froth, heat should be applied, and the scum which forms removed from time to time with a clean skimmer. As soon as the syrup begins to simmer it must be removed from the fire and allowed to stand until it has cooled a little, when it should again be skimmed, if necessary, and then passed through a clean flannel. By using refined sugar, however, all this trouble of clarification can be avoided.

When vegetable infusions or solutions enter into the compositions of syrups, they should be rendered perfectly transparent by filtration or clarification, before being added to the sugar.

The proper quantity of sugar for syrups will, in general, be found to be 2 lb. to every pint of water or thin aqueous fluid. These proportions allow for the water that is lost by evaporation during the process, and are those best calculated to produce syrup of proper consistence and possessing good keeping qualities. They closely correspond to those recommended by Guibourt for the production of a perfect syrup, which, he says, consists of 30 parts of sugar to 16 parts of water.

In the preparation of syrup it is of great importance to employ as little heat as possible, as a solution of sugar, even when kept at a temperature of boiling water, undergoes slow decomposition. The best plan is to pour the water (cold) over the sugar, and to allow the two to lie together for a few hours in a covered vessel, occasionally stirring, and to apply a gentle heat, preferably that of steam or of a water-bath, to finish the solution. Syrups are sufficiently boiled when some taken up in a spoon pours out like oil, or a drop cooled on the thumb nail gives a proper thread when touched. When a thin skin appears on blowing the syrup, it is judged to be completely saturated. These rude tests, however, often lead to errors, which might be easily prevented by employing the proper proportions, or determining the specific gravity by immersing in the syrup one of Baumé’s saccharometers or syrup gauges, as indicated in the following table:—

Sugar in 100 parts.Sp. Gr.Deg. Baumé.
01·0000
51·0203
101·0406
151·0628
201·08111
251·10413·5
301·12816·3
351·15219
401·17721·6
451·20424·5
501·23027
551·25729·5
601·28432
671·32135

A fluid ounce of saturated syrup weighs 577½ gr.; a gallon weighs 13½ lb.; its specific gravity is 1·319 to 1·321 or 35° Baumé; its boiling point is 221° F., and its density at the temperature of 212° is 1·260 to 1·261, or 30° Baumé. The syrups prepared with the juices of fruits mark about 2° or 3° more on Baumé’s scale than the other syrups. According to Ure, the decimal part of the number denoting the specific gravity of a syrup multiplied by 26 gives very nearly the number of pounds of sugar it contains per gallon.

The preservation of syrups, as well as of all saccharine solutions, is best promoted by keeping them in a moderately cool, but not a very cold place. Let syrups be kept in vessels well closed, and in a situation where the temperature never rises above 55° F. They are kept better in small than in large vessels, as the longer the bottle lasts the more frequently will it be opened, and the syrup consequently exposed to the air. By bottling syrups while boiling hot, and immediately corking down and tying the bottles over with a bladder, perfectly air-tight, they may be preserved even at a summer heat for years, without fermenting or losing their transparency.

The candying of syrups may be prevented (unless the syrup be over-saturated with sugar) by the addition of acetic or citric acid, 2 or 3 dr. per gallon. Confectioners add a little cream of tartar to prevent granulation. Syrups may be effectually prevented from fermenting by the addition of a little sulphite of potash or lime; also by the use of salicylic acid in small quantities. Fermenting syrups may be immediately restored by exposing the vessel containing them to the temperature of boiling water. The addition of a little spirit is also good, say about 10 per cent.

A solution of sugar prepared by dissolving 2 parts of double refined sugar in one of water, and boiling this a little, affords a syrup which neither ferments nor crystallises.

The basis of most mineral water syrups is simple syrup, which is prepared by adding 16 lb. of finest white sugar and the whites of 4 eggs to 1 gal. water; stir until all the sugar is dissolved; simmer over a gentle heat for 2 or 3 minutes; skim well and strain through a fine flannel bag.

The best way to keep fruit syrups from fermenting is by bottling while hot, into suitable bottles or larger vessels, and to prevent access of air. This is the principle, and it may be carried out in various ways. For instance, fill the syrup while hot in quart bottles, previously warmed, and fill them almost full. Cover or cork the bottles temporarily until the syrup cools a little and contracts in volume; then, having heated a small quantity of the syrup, refill the bottles, cork them securely and wax them.

A great variety of syrups are made by the addition of proper flavouring ingredients to simple syrup; but in other cases, especially when the juices of fruits are employed, the syrup is not first prepared and then flavoured, but the processes go hand-in-hand. In such instances specific instructions will be given. It is always advisable, when fresh fruit can be obtained, to use it in preference to the essence. One general recipe, which answers for nearly all fresh fruit, is as follows: Use nothing but the very best fresh fruit, which must be freed from stocks, &c., and crushed with a wooden instrument (not metal); when well mashed, let it stand in a room of even temperature (about 68° F.) for 4 days, which will give sufficient time for fermentation to take place; press out the juice from the fruit and let it settle in a cool cellar for 2 days, after which 5 lb. of the clear juice is to be simmered with 9 lb. loaf sugar; while warm, strain through flannel. The colour may be improved by a solution of some colouring agent.

It is advisable to add to the fresh fruit before setting it for fermentation, about 2 lb. powdered loaf sugar for every 100 lb. fruit. When cold, it is ready for bottling. Cleanliness should be strictly observed in all the utensils used. When bottling for storing, skim the top off any floating matter from the syrups in the large pan, and see that no residue at the bottom goes into the bottles. Most of the syrups not made of fruit, may have a little mucilage of gum arabic added, in order to produce a rich froth. The following recipes comprise syrups made from the fruit, and also from essences. These may be varied to suit taste and requirements. A variety of syrups have been brought into use by adding the various wines, such as claret, hock, sherry, &c., to simple syrup; others, by the addition of spirits, as milk punch, by adding to vanilla cream Jamaica rum and nutmeg. Almost any syrup may be made by the addition of a sufficient quantity of flavouring essence to simple syrup; but these artificially prepared syrups are inferior to those made from fresh fruits.

Red Colouring for Soda-Water Syrups.—The most convenient is probably tincture of cudbear, as it affords a good, substantial, and natural-looking colour miscible with syrups without cloudiness. It may be made as follows:—2 to 4 oz. powdered cudbear, 1 pint diluted alcohol. Exhaust by maceration or displacement. Used alone, the tincture gives a shade of red closely imitating the colour of raspberries or currants. For deeper red, like blackberries, the addition of some caramel is all that is necessary. The strawberry colour is best imitated with tincture of cochineal. Aniline red, owing to its cheapness, is often used for colouring syrups, but it produces a glaring, artificial-looking bluish-red, and is liable to the objection that it sometimes contains arsenic.

Ambrosia Syrup.—A mixture of equal parts of vanilla and strawberry syrups.

Apple Syrup.—As for pineapple syrups.

Banana Syrup.—As for pineapple syrups.

Blackberry Syrup.—Prepared from ripe fruit the same as raspberry syrups. Improved by adding 1 oz. best French brandy to each quart.

Capillaire Syrup.—9 lb. loaf sugar, 5 lb. orange-flower water. Boil till the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear; while hot, strain through flannel; add to the cool syrup 2 dr. tartaric acid, previously dissolved in 8 oz. strongest orange-flower water; lastly add 4 oz. best Rhine wine.

Cream Syrup.—(a) 1 pint condensed milk, 1 pint water, 1¼ lb. sugar. Heat to boiling and strain. This will keep for over a week in a cool place.

(b) Imitation.—Make an emulsion with 3 oz. fresh oil of sweet almonds, 2 oz. powdered gum arabic, and 2 oz. water; then dissolve 1 lb. white sugar by gentle heat, strain, and when cool, add the whites of two eggs. It should be put up in small bottles, well corked, in a cool place. This is not only an excellent imitation and substitute for cream syrup, but will keep for a considerable time.

Currant Syrup.—(a) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints water, 2 oz. tartaric acid, 3 dr. fruit essence. Mix; colour with liquid carmine for red currants, and with burnt sugar, for black.

(b) 1 pint red currant juice, 1 gal. simple syrup.

Ginger Syrup.—(a) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints water, 1 oz. tartaric acid, 2 oz. ginger. Burnt sugar to colour.

(b) 4 oz. extract Jamaica ginger, 1 gal. syrup. Shake well. A few drops of tincture curcuma to colour.

(c) 9 lb. loaf sugar, 5 lb. water, 12 oz. essence of ginger, 4 oz. Rhine wine. Boil sugar and water until dissolved and clear; when cool, add ginger and wine. Mix well and let settle.

Grape Syrup.-½ pint brandy, 1 oz. tincture of lemon, 1 gal. simple syrup, 1 qt. tincture red saunders.

Imperial Syrup.—Equal parts of raspberry and orange syrups.

Lemon Syrup.—(a) Grate off the yellow rinds of lemons, and beat it up with a sufficient quantity of granulated sugar; express the lemon juice; add to each pint of juice 1 pint of water, 3½ lb. granulated sugar, including that rubbed up with the rind; warm until the sugar is dissolved and strain. Under no circumstances must the syrup be allowed to boil, and the less heat that can be used to effect the complete solution of the sugar the better will be the syrup.

(b) Add to 1 gal. simple syrup when cold, 20 drops fresh oil lemon and ½ oz. citric acid, previously dissolved in 3 oz. water; mix by shaking well in a bottle; add 4 oz. gum solution, made by dissolving 2 oz. fine white gum arabic in 2 oz. warm water.

(c) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints distilled water, 2 oz. essence of lemon, 2 oz. citric acid, dissolved in boiling water. Mix, and, if required, colour with saffron.

Maple Syrup.—3½ lb. maple sugar, 1 qt. water. Dissolve, and, if desired, add a small proportion of gum solution to produce a rich froth.

Milk-Punch Syrup.—To 1 pint heavy syrup add ½ pint each brandy and Jamaica rum; flavour with 2 teaspoonfuls of an extract prepared by macerating 2 oz. ground nutmegs in 8 oz. alcohol. The syrup is first to be poured into the glass in the proper quantity, and ordinary cream syrup added before drawing the soda water.

Mulberry Syrup.—Made from the fruit, the same as strawberry, and acidulated slightly with a solution of citric acid. It may also be made from the fruit essence in the same manner as for strawberry, using about half the quantity of tartaric acid.

Nectar Syrup.—(a) 1 oz. extract of vanilla, 1 oz. extract of rose, 1 oz. extract of lemon, 1 oz. extract of bitter almonds. Mix and add 1 gal. of simple syrup; colour pink with cochineal.

(b) Mix 3 parts vanilla syrup with 1 each of pineapple and lemon syrups.

Orange Syrups.—These may be made from the fresh fruit or from the essence in a similar manner as for lemon syrups. Orange syrups may be coloured slightly with tincture of saffron or of turmeric.

Orgeat Syrup.—(a) ½ pint cream syrup, ½ pint simple syrup, 1 pint vanilla syrup, 5 drops oil bitter almonds.

(b) Beat to an emulsion in a mortar 8 oz. blanched sweet almonds and 4 oz. bitter ones, adding a little water; when smooth, add 3 pints water; mix and strain; dissolve in this without heat 6 lb. sifted white sugar, and 4 oz. fresh orange-flower water.

(c) An excellent imitation of orgeat syrup is made by flavouring cream syrup, made with eggs and milk, with a few drops of oil of bitter almonds.

Pear Syrup.—As for pineapple syrups.

Pineapple Syrup.—(a) Take a convenient number of the fruit; pare and mash them in a marble or porcelain mortar, with a small quantity of sugar; express the juice; for each quart of juice take 1½ pint water, and 6 lb. sugar; boil the sugar and water, and add the juice; remove from the fire; skim and strain.

(b) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints distilled water, 1 oz. tartaric acid, 1 dr. essence of pineapple. Saffron to colour.

(c) Proceed as for raspberry (d); but the hard nature of this fruit requires pounding with a heavy chump of wood (not metal) in a tub with a strong bottom; when well mashed, it will require great pressure to extract all the juice from this fruit; a cider press will answer the purpose; add 14 lb. sugar to 1 gal. juice and a little pure acetic acid; put it on a slow fire, and stir until the sugar dissolves; when cold, bottle and tie down.

Raspberry Syrup.—(a) Take fresh berries and enclose them in a coarse bag; press out the juice, and to each quart add 6 lb. white sugar and 1 pint water; dissolve, raising it to the boiling point; strain; bottle and cork hot, and keep in a cool place. Raspberry syrup is improved by adding 1 part of currants to 4 parts of raspberries.

(b) 5 qt. raspberries, 12 lb. white sugar, 1 pint water. Sprinkle some of the sugar over the fruit in layers, allowing the whole to stand for several hours; express the juice and strain, washing out the pulp with the water, add the remainder of the sugar and water; bring the fluid to the boiling point, and then strain. This will keep for a long time.

(c) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints water, 2 oz. tartaric acid, 2 oz. essence of raspberry. Colouring sufficient. Colouring for raspberry, blackberry, &c., syrups may be made by boiling 1 oz. cochineal with half a teaspoonful cream of tartar; filter.

(d) Take any quantity of fully ripe fruit; free them from stalks; place them in a tub and crush them with a wooden spatula; after they have been mashed, let them remain for 3 or 4 hours, and strain the crushed berries through a strong flannel bag or strainer into a suitable vessel. Dissolve ½ oz. citric acid in 3 oz. water, and add this quantity to each gallon of juice; mix 14 lb. broken sugar to every gallon of juice; put on a slow fire and stir until all the sugar is dissolved (not boil); take off the fire, and when cold, bottle and cork for future use. If too thick when cold, it may be brought to a proper consistency by the addition of water.

(e) Imitation.—3 oz. bruised orris root, 2 oz. acetic acid, 1 oz. acetic ether, 1 pint alcohol. Cochineal to colour. Mix and allow to stand a few days; filter, and use to flavour simple syrup.

Rose Syrup.—1 gal. simple syrup, 1 oz. essence of rose. Colour pink with prepared cochineal, and acidulate lightly with a solution of citric acid.

Rowan Syrup.—Dry the berries till they are quite shrivelled. Then place them in brandy, and leave them in it for 7-10 days. Strain it off the berries at the end of that time, and mix with an equal quantity of thick very clear syrup made with loaf sugar in a brass boiler. A handful of picked berries is sufficient for 1 pint brandy. This is a very palatable liqueur.

Sarsaparilla Syrup.—(a) 1 gal. simple syrup, 2 oz. essence of sarsaparilla. Colour with caramel.

(b) 1 gal. simple syrup, essence of sarsaparilla, q.s., 1 oz. powdered extract licorice, 15 drops oil of sassafras, 15 drops oil of wintergreen, 10 drops oil of aniseed. Stir the oils with the powdered licorice; add a portion of the syrup; stir smoothly, and mix the whole together by agitation.

Sherbet Syrup.—Mix equal parts of orange, pineapple, and vanilla syrups.

Sherry Cobbler Syrup.—To 1 pint good sherry add an equal measure of heavy simple syrup, and one lemon cut in very thin slices. Allow the syrup to stand a few hours; strain through a sieve, and bottle for use.

Strawberry Syrup.—Proceed as for raspberry syrup (d); but the fruits being more stubborn will require a good beating with the spatula to mash them; when they have stood 3 or 4 hours, strain and press the juice out by squeezing the strainer between the hands; add to the juice the same quantity of citric acid; dissolve in each gallon 14 lb. loaf sugar; simply warm the juice sufficiently to dissolve the sugar; take from the fire, and when cold bottle and cork till required.

Vanilla Syrup.—(a) 1 gal. simple syrup, 1 oz. extract vanilla, ½ oz. citric acid. Stir the acid with a portion of the syrup; add the extract of vanilla; mix.

(b) 4 pints simple syrup, 2 oz. extract of vanilla.

The essences used by aerated water makers are usually purchased ready made, though in many cases it is found desirable to prepare them at the factory. Below are given a few recipes for those most commonly used:—

For essence of lemons, remove the outer rinds of 40 lemons, without a particle of pulp, and macerate them with 6 qt. perfectly pure alcohol at 85°. After two or three days, distil to dryness in a water-bath; add 2 qt. water and rectify to obtain 5 qt. of the essence. The essences of oranges and cedrats are made in precisely the same way.

For essence of strawberries and raspberries, take 56 lb. of the fresh fruit, free from stalks and leaves, and place them in 45 qt. pure alcohol at 80°. Macerate for 24 hours in a vessel closed in a water-bath; add 20 qt. water, and distil to obtain 44 qt., each containing 17½ oz. of essence.