I have already intimated an opinion that the profuse, or indeed the frequent and moderate use of liqueurs is to be deprecated: but as an agreeable termination to a repast, or as a gentle stimulus, inducing the stomach to perform its functions more kindly, they may be used with advantage. They should, however, be taken rarely and sparingly, for the particular effect to be looked for is a gentle action of the stomach. The liqueur, whatever its nature, should be taken as in all foreign countries, as a chasse café, immediately after the small cup of strong coffee, and it should be sipped slowly, and allowed to linger on the palate.
Jean de Milon, a famous physician, who wrote in the seventeenth century, and addressed his aphorisms to a king of England, proclaimed in the following verses that nothing should be taken after coffee, so excellent was it, and for this reason he condemns liqueurs:—
“Præludant offæ, præcludat prandia coffe.
Dulcitur invadit, sed duriter ilia rodit.
Spiritus ex vino quern fundit dcxtra popino.”
But with all respect to so eminent an authority, the occasional use of a thimbleful of brandy bounce may be recommended after coffee as rather beneficial than otherwise, for most will agree with old Lémery[26] in thinking, “these liquors, being taken moderately, heat and fortify the stomach, help digestion, expel wind, allay the cholic, revive the spirits, promote the circulation of the blood, and recover strength.”
I have only to say, in conclusion, that the most famous liqueurs of France are fabricated at Blois, Grenoble, Langres, Montpelier, Nismes, Verdun, and Paris.
