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Orange and Ginger Ale
Mix three tablespoonfuls of ginger ale and one tablespoonful of orange syrup with one half glass of shaved ice. Add Apollinaris. Stir well and put a slice of pineapple in the glass.
A soda-fountain formula written for someone standing behind a marble counter with syrup pumps and a shaved-ice bin. The measurements look tiny because the mineral water does most of the filling.
- ApollinarisA naturally carbonated German mineral water, widely sold in America before Prohibition and still available in some import shops. Any strongly carbonated mineral water or plain seltzer fills the same role; it is there for fizz and a faintly salty edge, not flavor.
- Orange syrupNot juice. Fountain orange syrup was a heavy sugar syrup flavored with orange, roughly the consistency of grenadine. Substitute a commercial orange syrup, or reduce equal parts sugar and orange juice with a strip of zest until it coats a spoon.
- Ginger ale here is a flavoringThree tablespoons is a splash, not a mixer. Period ginger ales varied, but the sharper Belfast-type styles were common, so a modern dry or "extra ginger" style is probably closer to the intended bite than a sweet supermarket brand.
- Half a glass of shaved iceFountain glasses ran roughly 8 to 10 ounces, so figure about half a cup of shaved or finely crushed ice. Cubes will not work the same way; the shaved ice is what chills and slightly dilutes the syrup as you stir.
- Add ApollinarisUnstated quantity, meaning fill the glass. Pour it down the side over the ice to keep the carbonation, then stir just enough to streak the syrup through.
- The pineappleThe recipe specifies only a slice. Canned pineapple in syrup was widely available and would serve; fresh pineapple works and is less sweet. Cut it in a wedge for the rim or drop it in the glass.
- YieldOne glass. The proportions scale directly if you are making several.
Books like this one belong to the years when American temperance advocacy was turning into law, and the soda fountain was being promoted in earnest as the saloon's replacement. The drink itself is a straightforward fountain construction: syrup, ice, carbonation, garnish, assembled in the glass rather than shaken. Apollinaris, bottled from a spring in the German Ahr valley, was among the most fashionable mineral waters of the era and appears often in period drink lists, both alcoholic and not; specifying it by brand suggested that a soft drink could be as considered as a cocktail. Canned pineapple had become common and cheap enough in American kitchens to use as a garnish.