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Malt Nutrine
Recommended to bicyclists as at once refreshing and nourishing. Malt Nutrine (Anheuser-Busch), 1 ounce; Simple Syrup, 1 ounce. American Acid Phosphate a dash, plain soda to fill a thin mineral tumbler. Simple Syrup is the basis of all soda water syrups and the formula for making it is given in this book.
A two-ingredient fountain drink built on a proprietary malt tonic that no longer exists. Everything else in it is still obtainable, so the substitution is the whole problem.
- Malt NutrineA malt-extract beverage sold by Anheuser-Busch as a nourishing tonic; it was discontinued generations ago. The closest stand-in is a non-diastatic liquid malt extract thinned with water, or a bottled malt beverage such as maltina, used ounce for ounce.
- Ounces are fluid ouncesFountain formulas measure syrups by volume, dispensed with a 1-ounce pump or ladle. So 1 ounce malt plus 1 ounce simple syrup is 2 fluid ounces of base, roughly a quarter cup.
- Thin mineral tumblerA thin-walled fountain glass, commonly in the region of 8 ounces, though sizes varied. An 8 oz highball works; fill with about 6 ounces of soda.
- Acid phosphateA dilute phosphoric acid solution, still made for bar use under the Horsford's name. A dash is about 1/8 teaspoon, and its job is sourness without citrus fruit flavour, which is why lemon juice is not a clean swap.
- Plain sodaUnflavoured carbonated water from the fountain, drawn hard against the side of the glass. Soda from a siphon or a fresh bottle gives the same effect; club soda will do, though its added minerals are not necessarily what a period fountain produced.
- Order of buildingSyrup and malt first, acid next, soda last and fast. Malt extract is heavy and will sit at the bottom otherwise, so stir once with a long spoon and serve immediately before the gas goes.
- Simple syrupPeriod fountain syrups were generally heavier than the modern 1:1 bar standard, so check the book's own formula, which is given elsewhere. If you use 1:1, the drink may taste thin and you may want a half ounce more.
- YieldOne glassful, around 8 ounces depending on the tumbler. It is sweet and distinctly bready; the malt reads as more filling than a fruit soda, which was the selling point.
Malt Nutrine was Anheuser-Busch's medicinal line, a barely-fermented malt preparation sold through drugstores rather than saloons and advertised for nursing mothers, invalids and the run-down. Its appearance at the soda fountain reflects how thin the line between pharmacy and refreshment stand was around 1900: the same counter dispensed acid phosphate, celery tonic, pepsin and beef extract alongside ice cream sodas, and a druggist could recommend a glass with a straight face. The bicyclist in the first line points to the 1890s cycling boom, which created a large class of people arriving hot and depleted at a shop door, and a malt drink promised food and drink in one glass, a pitch resembling the one that later carried malted milk shakes to national popularity. The Volstead Act eventually pushed Anheuser-Busch further into non-alcoholic malt products, but the fountain habit of treating malt as a tonic rather than a treat belongs to this earlier moment.