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Cherry Sangaree
Glass ¼ full crushed ice, 1 ounce cherry syrup, 2 teaspoonfuls sherry wine, 2 teaspoonfuls powdered sugar, a slice of lemon and orange. Draw on soda sugar, a slice of lemon and orange. Draw on soda with coarse stream, serve with straws after stirring with spoon. Beginners are advised to stick close to the popular and well established lavors Vanilla, Chocolate, Lemon, Strawberry, Pineapple, Raspberry, Orange and
A fountain drink rather than a bar drink: cherry syrup, a spoonful or two of sherry, and soda water over crushed ice. The wine is a flavouring, not the body of the glass.
- Glass sizeThe recipe does not say; fountain glasses of the period ran from about 8 to 12 oz. Quarter-filled with crushed ice, a 10-12 oz glass would leave room for something on the order of 8 oz of soda water.
- Cherry syrupThis means the thick sweetened fountain syrup, not maraschino liqueur and not thin cherry juice. A bottled cherry soda syrup is the closest substitute; 1 oz is 2 tablespoons.
- The sugar is optional in practiceTwo teaspoons of powdered sugar on top of an ounce of syrup gives a very sweet glass by current taste, so taste before adding all of it.
- Powdered sugarIn fountain usage this is finely ground sugar, what is now sold as superfine or caster. Confectioners' sugar with cornstarch will cloud the drink.
- SherryTwo teaspoons is about 10 ml, so the finished glass is barely alcoholic. A dry or medium amontillado balances the syrup better than a cream sherry.
- Coarse streamThe soda fountain had two draws: a fine spray for foaming and a coarse open stream for filling. Pour bottled soda water down the side of the glass in one steady go, then stir once, briefly, to keep the carbonation.
- YieldOne glass. Multiply the syrup, sherry and sugar for more, but charge each glass with soda separately so none goes flat.
A sangaree is generally traced to the older English rendering of Spanish sangria, and by the eighteenth century it seems to have meant wine sweetened, spiced and served long, usually with a grating of nutmeg. When American soda fountains expanded in the late nineteenth century they absorbed a great many bar names in this way, rebuilding tavern drinks around syrup and carbonated water so that the wine became a flavour note rather than the substance. Fountain manuals of the period routinely printed sangarees, cobblers, punches and "wine lemonades" alongside the ice-cream sodas.