Fairy Punch

A fountain drink written for someone standing behind a marble counter with a syrup rail in front of them, so the quantities are left to judgement. A few substitutions make it work at home.

• "Suitable quantities"The original assumes an operator who knows his syrups. For a 12 oz glass, figure about 1 tablespoon each of strawberry, orange and pineapple syrup as a starting point, then taste before you add the soda. Three fruit syrups plus lemon juice can turn cloying fast.
• Soda means carbonated waterNot a sweetened soft drink. Fountain "soda" was plain charged water drawn under pressure; use unflavoured seltzer or club soda, as cold as you can get it, and pour down the side of the glass to keep the gas.
• The syrupsPeriod fountain syrups were roughly 2 parts sugar to 1 part water with fruit juice or fruit essence stirred in, not the thin flavoured syrups sold for coffee today. Commercial grenadine-style or Italian fruit syrups are close enough; if you make your own, keep them thick or the drink will be watery.
• Lemon juiceJuice of 1½ lemons is roughly 3 to 4 tablespoons, which is assertive for one glass. It is there to cut the sugar, so add it before the soda and adjust.
• Shaved iceShaved, not cubed. It chills instantly and holds the fruit suspended partway up the glass, which is the whole visual point. A blender pulse or a canvas bag and mallet will do it; cubes will sink the strawberries and dilute slowly instead.
• Order of workSyrups and lemon juice first, then ice, then soda. Stirring after the soda goes in flattens it; a soda spoon lifted once through the glass is enough.
• The fruitFresh hulled strawberries, thin pineapple slices and half-moons of orange. Canned pineapple will do. The fruit is garnish and reward, not flavouring, so it goes on top.
• YieldOne tall glass; period fountain glasses commonly ran somewhere in the 8 to 12 oz range. Scale the syrups by glass rather than mixing a batch, since it must be built over the ice.