Mint Nectar

This is a fountain formula, written for someone standing behind a marble counter with a syrup rail, a dash bottle and a carbonated water draft at hand. Translating it means knowing what those bottles held.

• Crème de menthe syrupNot the liqueur. Fountain crème de menthe was a green, sweet peppermint syrup, alcohol-free; the closest current equivalent is a peppermint or mint simple syrup. One ounce is two tablespoons.
• Nectar syrupA house blend rather than a fixed product; period fountain manuals give several quite different formulas, some fruit-based (pineapple, lemon, vanilla among the elements named), so treat it as a sweet mixed-fruit syrup and expect variation.
• Three dashes sauterneA dash from a fountain dash bottle is roughly 1/8 teaspoon, so this is well under half a teaspoon of wine total — a flavour accent, not a spirituous drink. Note that American "sauterne" of the period was a generic white table wine rather than necessarily a sweet Sauternes; any light white will serve.
• TossThe key move. "Toss" means pouring the charged drink back and forth between two glasses, or from glass to glass at a height, to fold the whipped cream through the soda without stirring the gas flat. Do it two or three times and stop.
• Add sodaCarbonated water, as cold and as strongly charged as you can get it. Fountains used a coarse stream first to raise the syrup and cream, then a fine stream to fill; with a siphon or a bottle, add a splash to loosen the syrup before topping up.
• Whipped creamA "large spoonful" of cream whipped to soft peaks, unsweetened — the syrups carry more than enough sugar.
• NutmegGrated fresh over the finished drink. Nutmeg with mint reads oddly now, but nutmeg was a common fountain garnish on drinks containing cream.
• Yield and glassOne drink. The recipe does not name a glass; a soda glass of roughly 10 to 12 ounces suits the volume. Serve at once with a long spoon and straws, as the text directs; it separates within a few minutes.