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Cordials
proof spirit, 1 gall.; sugar, 1½ lbs. Digest for 6 | Hungary-water, honey-water, eau de Cologne, and hours.
Creme d'Orange of Superior Flavor.
Take 3 doz. middling sized oranges; orangeflower water, 2 qts.; loaf sugar, 18 lbs.; spirit of wine, 2 galls.; tincture of saffron, 1½ oz.; water, 4 galls. This will produce 7½ galls.
Cut the oranges in slices, put them into a cask, add the spirit and orange-flower water, let it stand a fortnight, then boil the sugar in the water for an hour, pour it out, and let it stand till cold, then add it to the mixture in the cask, and put in the tincture of saffron. Let it remain a fortnight longer; then strain, and proceed as directed in the receipt for Cremes de Barbades, and a very fine cordial will be produced.
Fine Brandy Shrub.
Take 8 oz. of citric acid; 1 gall. of porter; 3 galls. of raisin wine; 2 qts. of orange-flower water; 7 galls. of good brandy; 5 galls. of water. This will produce 16 galls. First, dissolve the citric acid in the water, then add to it the brandy; next, mix the raisin wine, porter, and orange-flower water together; and lastly, mix the whole; and in a week or 10 days it will be ready for drinking, and of a very mellow flavor.
Rum Shrub.
Leave out the brandy and porter, and add 1 gall. more raisin wine; 6 lbs. of honey; and 10 galls. of good flavored rum.
Currant Shrub.
Take white currants, when quite ripe, pick them off the stalks, and bruise them; strain out the juice through a cloth, and to 2 qts. of the juice put 2 lbs. of loaf sugar; when it is dissolved add to it 1 gall. of rum, then strain it through a flannel bag that will keep in the jelly, and it will run off clear; then bottle it for use:
Usquebaugh.
Usquebaugh is a strong compound liquor, chiefly taken by way of dram; it is made in the highest perfection at Drogheda, in Ireland. The following are the ingredients, and the proportions in which they are to be used:
Take of best brandy, 1 gall.; raisins, stoned, 1 lb.; cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamoms, each 1 oz. crushed in a mortar; saffron, oz.; rind of 1 Seville orange; and brown sugar candy, 1 lb. Shake these well every day, for at least 14 days, and it will at the expiration of that time be ready to be fined for use.
Another Method.
Take of nutmegs, cloves, and cinnamon, each 2 oz.; of the seeds of anise, caraway, and coriander, each 4 oz.; liquorice-root, sliced, lb.; bruise the seeds and spices, and put them together with the liquorice, into the still with 11 galls. of proof spirit, and 2 galls. of water; distill with a pretty brisk fire. As soon as the still begins to work, fasten to the nozzle of the worm 2 oz. of English saffron, tied up in a cloth, that the liquor may run through it, and extract all its tincture. When the operation is finished, sweeten with fine sugar.
This liqueur may be much improved by the following additions: Digest 4 lbs. of stoned raisins; 3 lbs. of dates; and 2 lbs. of sliced liquorice-root, in 2 galls. of water for 12 hours. When the liquor is strained off, and has deposited all sediment, decant it gently into the vessel containing the usquebaugh.
Ratafia a la Violette.
Take Florentine orris root 2 drachms, archel 1 oz., spirit of wine 4 pts. Digest, strain, and add sugar 4 lbs. Liqueurs are also made by adding several other spirits to an equal quantity of simple syrup, or common capillaire.