Put into a jar French brandy, and rose or peach leaves, in the proportion of a quart of the former to half a pint of the latter. Let them steep together, till the strength is obtained from the leaves—then turn off the brandy, squeeze the leaves dry, throw them away, and put fresh leaves to the brandy. Continue to go through the above process until the brandy is strongly impregnated with the leaves—then turn the brandy off clear, and bottle it—keep it corked tight. Lemon or orange peel, and peach meats, steeped in a bottle of brandy, give it a fine flavor. It takes the rind of three or four lemons, or a quarter of a pound of peach meats, to flavor a pint of brandy. When all the brandy is used, put in more, with a few fresh rinds. Spice brandy is very nice to season cakes, puddings, and mince pies.
Gather fragrant, full-blown roses, on a dry day—pick off the leaves, and to each peck of them put a quart of water. Put the whole in a cold still, and set the still on a moderate fire—the slower they are distilled, the better will be the rosewater. Bottle the water as soon as distilled.
361. To extract the Essential Oil of Flowers.
Procure a quantity of fresh, fragrant leaves—both the stalk and the flower leaves will answer. Cord very thin layers of cotton, and dip them into fine Florence oil—put alternate layers of the cotton and leaves in a glass jar, or large tumbler. Sprinkle a very small quantity of fine salt on each layer of the flowers, cover the jar up tight, and place it in a south window, exposed to the heat of the sun. In the course of a fortnight a fragrant oil may be squeezed out of the cotton. Rose leaves, mignonette, and sweet-scented clover, make fine perfumes, managed in this way.
Rose and sweet-scented clover leaves, dried in the shade, then mixed with powdered cloves, cinnamon, mace, and pressed in small bags, are very nice to keep in chests of linen, or drawers of clothes, to perfume them.
Turn a quart of alcohol gradually on to the following oils: a couple of drachms of the oil of rosemary, two of the oil of lemon, or orange-flower water, one drachm of lavender, ten drops of oil of cinnamon, ten of cloves, and a tea-spoonful of rosewater. Keep the whole stopped tight in a bottle—shake it up well. It will do to use as soon as made, but it is much improved by age.