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Raspberry Royal (Put ounce American Raspberry)
Put 1 ounce American Raspberry Syrup (double strength) in a 6 ounce fill with hot water; sprinkle with grated cup; add a dash of phosphate and nutmeg and top with whipped
A hot fountain drink from the days when the soda counter sold warm beverages through the winter. The printed text has come down to us garbled, with a line of type evidently dropped, so read it as intent rather than instruction.
- The scrambled line"Fill with hot water; sprinkle with grated cup" is a typesetting error: the grated item is the nutmeg named at the end, and the cup is the 6-ounce vessel. Read it as syrup in a 6-ounce mug, hot water to fill, a dash of acid phosphate, whipped cream on top, grated nutmeg over the cream.
- Double-strength syrupFountain syrups were sold in single and double strength; double is roughly twice the fruit and sugar in the same volume. With ordinary bottled raspberry syrup use 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) and expect a thinner flavour, since modern syrups lean sweet rather than tart.
- Acid phosphateA dilute solution of phosphoric acid, usually carrying calcium, magnesium and potassium salts, still sold to bartenders for this sort of drink. It sharpens fruit syrups without adding citrus flavour. A dash is roughly 1/4 teaspoon; there is no true substitute, though a few drops of lemon juice will at least restore some acidity.
- Vessel and volumeA 6-ounce cup is small by current standards, about three-quarters of a mug. The whipped cream sits above the rim, so do not fill the water to the brim.
- The creamThe recipe does not specify. Whipped to soft peaks it will melt into the drink; stiffly whipped, it tends to sit on the surface as a lid.
- YieldOne serving, and it is meant to be drunk immediately while the cream is still holding.
Soda fountains were year-round businesses, and the trade manuals of the early twentieth century devoted whole chapters to hot drinks that could be built from the same rack of fruit syrups that served the cold trade in July. "Royal" appears to have been fountain-menu language rather than a defined formula, seemingly applied to drinks dressed up with whipped cream and a dusting of spice, in the same spirit as "deluxe" or "supreme" on a later diner menu. The dash of acid phosphate is the mark of the period: phosphates were widely believed to be tonic and digestive, and the acid served to brighten sweet fruit. What the word "American" marked in the raspberry syrup is unclear — it may equally have been a brand or house designation.