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Champagne, English

The yellow hairy gooseberries are the best for this purpose. They should be taken when they are fully grown, but before they are in the least ripe. Reject all unsound or bruised fruit, and pick off the stalks and heads. Bruise a gallon of fruit so as to burst the berries without breaking the seeds. Be careful that the tub in which they are placed is scrupulously clean. Pour over them a gallon of water, and let them stand in a warm place for forty-eight hours, stirring them frequently, until all the juice and pulp are separated from the rest of the fruit. Strain the liquid, pressing the pulp with a wooden spoon till it is quite dry. Pour it upon four pounds of coarse sugar, and let it stand three days more, still stirring it frequently, then strain it through a coarse bag into a cask, and mix with it a cupful of the best gin. Let it stand twelve months, then bottle it. It must be bottled in the spring. If it is not quite clear, it may be fined with a little isinglass; half an ounce is enough for four gallons. After the bungs are driven in tightly, a vent-hole should be made in the cask. Probable cost of gooseberries, 1s. per gallon.