Mint Bowle
Empty a quart of Reesling wine into a large punch bowl; put with it rather light claret, one quart. Bruise a handful of mint sprays with four tablespoonfuls of white sugar and stir this into the wine. Set it in a cool place for two hours. Then put a large lump of ice into the bowl, add to the contents a quart of seltzer and fringe the edges of the bowl with long-stemmed sprigs of fresh mint. This is a favorite German drink.
A German summer punch built on two wines, mint and soda water. It is assembled cold and needs nothing but time and a large bowl.
- The hinge: infuse, then diluteThe two hours of steeping is what makes this work; the sugar-bruised mint needs that long in wine to give up its oil. Add the seltzer and ice only at the moment of serving, or the drink goes flat and watery.
- "Reesling"Riesling, spelled as it sounded to the writer. The recipe does not specify a style; since it supplies its own sugar, a dry or off-dry German Riesling is the safer choice than a sweet late-harvest bottling.
- "Rather light claret"Claret was the English and American term for red Bordeaux. Any light, low-tannin red works; a heavy oaky wine will bury the mint.
- SeltzerPlain carbonated water, not the sweetened flavored waters sold under the name today. Club soda or sparkling mineral water is the same thing for this purpose.
- Bruising the mintRub the leaves with the sugar in the bottom of the bowl until they look wet and dark. The sugar crystals tear the leaf and release the oil; a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon does the job. Do not shred the mint to pieces or the punch turns green and grassy.
- "A large lump of ice"Period kitchens chipped a block from the icebox. A single large mass melts far more slowly than cubes, so freeze water in a loaf pan or a mixing bowl if you want the same effect; otherwise expect the punch to thin out quickly.
- YieldThree quarts finished, roughly 24 small punch-cup servings or a dozen generous glasses. Two parts wine to one part seltzer, plus melting ice, puts the strength at around two-thirds that of the wines themselves.
- StrainingThe original leaves the bruised mint in. Ladling through a small strainer keeps leaf fragments out of the cups, and the mint sprigs fringing the rim carry the aroma anyway.
Bowle is simply the German word for a punch made in a bowl — wine, something aromatic steeped in it, sugar, and sparkling water added at the last minute. The family is large and seasonal: Maibowle or Waldmeisterbowle with sweet woodruff in spring, strawberry and peach bowles in summer, and mint as here. American cookbooks collected such drinks freely, often labelling them "a favorite German drink" as this one does, at a time when German immigrant households were a visible influence on the country's beer, wine and table customs. The mixture of Rhine wine with red Bordeaux is the sort of thing a hostess did with what was in the cellar; the seltzer is what made the last-minute lift possible.