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Spiced Lemonade
Put one half teaspoonful of whole allspice, one half teaspoonful of whole cloves, and a small piece of stick cinnamon in a quart of cold water, and let come to a boil. Strain, and chill. Mix this with a lemonade made of the juice of four lemons, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a quart of water. Serve with cracked ice and lemon slices decorated with whole cloves.
A two-part drink: a spiced decoction chilled separately, then cut with plain lemonade. The method matters more than the quantities.
- YieldTwo quarts finished, before ice — about eight 8-oz servings. Halve it for a small gathering, since it is best within a day.
- Sugar is low by modern tasteFour tablespoons of sugar to four lemons and two quarts of liquid is barely sweet, closer to a spiced lemon water. Most cooks today will want 1/2 to 3/4 cup, and dissolving it in the hot spice water is easier than stirring it into cold.
- Boil the spices, not the lemonThe hinge of the recipe is that the spice water is made and cooled on its own. Simmering citrus juice with cloves and allspice turns it dull and slightly bitter; keeping the two apart preserves the fresh lemon note.
- Whole spices onlyGround allspice and cinnamon will cloud the liquid and leave sediment behind. Use whole berries, whole cloves and a broken cinnamon stick; the recipe specifies only 'a small piece.'
- Simmer rather than a hard boilThe recipe says only to bring the spice water to a boil. Ten to fifteen minutes at a bare simmer, covered, will give a more strongly flavoured spice water; strain through a fine sieve or coffee filter.
- Cracked iceCracked ice was chipped from a block and melts faster than modern cubes, diluting as it chills. With modern cubes the drink stays stronger, a reason to taste before serving.
- The clove-studded lemon slicesPush three or four whole cloves through the peel of each slice so they hold. They are garnish and aroma, not for eating.
The spicing here belongs to the punch and mulled-wine tradition: allspice, clove and cinnamon are precisely what would have gone into a hot wine or rum punch, and on lemonade they gave a drink something of the ceremonial weight of those older preparations. Lemonade itself was long established by 1900, cheap and unremarkable; the spice infusion and the clove-studded slices are what turned it into something you could serve to company.