Drinks Of The World - free ebook by John Ashton

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Drinks Of The World

John Ashton

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Drinks of the World

Drinks of the World

BY JAMES MEW, Author of “Types from Spanish Story,” &amp;c., &amp;c., AND JOHN ASHTON, Author of “Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne,” &amp;c., &amp;c. ONE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS. 1892. LONDON: The Leadenhall Press, 50, Leadenhall Street, E.C. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent &amp; Co., Ltd. NEW YORK: Scribner &amp; Welford. “Ingeniosa Sitis.”— Martial, Epig. xiv. 117. “J’y ai songé comme un autre, et je suis tenté de mettre l’appétence des liqueurs fermentées, qui n’

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Introduction.

Introduction.

From the Cradle to the Grave we need Drink , and we have not far to look for the reason, when we consider that at least seventy per cent. of the human body is composed of water, to compensate the perpetual waste of which, a fresh supply is, of course, absolutely necessary. This is taken with our food (all solid nutriment containing some water), and by the drink we consume. But, as the largest constituent part of the body is fluid, so, naturally, its waste is larger than that of the solid; this f

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THE DRINKS OF ANTIQUITY.

THE DRINKS OF ANTIQUITY.

Has any man been bold enough to attempt to fix upon the discoverer of Wine? Not to our knowledge. Nor can a date be even hazarded as to its introduction. It was so good a thing, that we may be sure that men very soon came to know its revivifying effects. We do know this: that the oldest records of which we have any cognisance, those of the Egyptians (who were in a high state of civilization and culture when the Hebrews were semi-barbarous nomads), show us that they had wine, and used it in a mos

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CLASSICAL WINES. Greek.[4]

CLASSICAL WINES. Greek.[4]

The only wine upon which Homer dilates, in a tone of approval approaching to hyperbole, is that produced on the coast of Thrace, the scene of several of the most remarkable exploits of Bacchus. This wine the minister of Apollo, Maron, gave to Ulysses. It was red and honey sweet, so strong that it was mingled with twenty times its bulk of water, so fragrant that it filled even when diluted the house with perfume ( Od. ix. 203). Homer’s Pramnian wine is variously interpreted by various writers. Th

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CLASSICAL WINES. Roman.

CLASSICAL WINES. Roman.

Of Roman wines the Campania Felix boasted the most celebrated growths. The Falernian, Massican, Cæcuban, and Surrentine wines were all the produce of this favoured soil. The three first of these wines have been, as the schoolboy (not necessarily Macaulay’s) is only too well aware, immortalised by Horace, who doubtless had ample opportunities of forming a matured judgment about them. The Cæcuban is described by Galen as a generous wine, ripening only after a long term of years. The Massican close

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NORTHERN DRINKING.

NORTHERN DRINKING.

Sailing from the north, being lured to the south with visions of plunder and luxury, came the Danish and Norwegian Vikings, and, as England was the nearest to them, she received an early visit. With them they brought their habit of deep drinking, which was scarcely needed, as on that score the then inhabitants of England could pretty well hold their own. Their liquors seem to have been ale, ealu , beer, beor , wine, win , and mead, medo . There was a difference between those that drank ale and t

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Africa.

Africa.

Of this country the most important wines of the present are, perhaps, Pontac, Hanepoot, Frontignac, and Drakenstein. On the wines of the Cape of Good Hope, Dr. Edward Kretschmar is a great authority. Kokwyn , made from Muscat grapes, resembles Malaga. The best dry white wines, called Cape Hocks, are produced in the village of Paarl . The Constantias , so called from the wife of the Dutch governor, Van der Stell, are of three kinds. These excellent sweet wines are too frequently falsified and adu

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America.

America.

The first attempt to cultivate the vine in North America was made, we are informed by Drs. Thudichum and Dupré, in 1564. Some of its best known wines at the present time are the Catawbas [21] (still and sparkling), red Aliso and Angelico . Wine has been made from the vines on the Ohio, said to resemble Bordeaux in quality. In several parts of Mexico, as at Passo del Norte, at Zalaya, and at St. Louis de la Paz, wines are made of tolerable flavour. The red wine of California is agreeable. In Flor

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Australia.

Australia.

Australian wines are pretty well known from our tradesmen’s circulars. For instance, there is the Gouais , the Carbinet , a soft wine like Burgundy, the Mataro , the Sauvignon . There is that “elegant dinner wine,” Kaludah , the Singleton Red or White Hermitage , “noted for its refinement”; the Tintara Ferruginous , of “immense power and generous quality”; the Tokay Imperatrice ; and the Alexandrian Moscat , both poetically described as “abounding in memories of the sun which begot them,” and po

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Canaries.

Canaries.

The Canary Islands have long been celebrated for their wines. The favourite Teneriffe wine is Vidueño or Vidonia . Canary sack is supposed to have been made from the Malvasia sweet grape, whereas the modern sack is dry ( sec ). The best vineyards are at Orotava, S. Ursula, Ycod de los Vinos, Buenavista, and Valle de Guerra....

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England.

England.

British made wines hold no very high rank. A cheap foreign manufacture is, according to some of their vendors, gradually ousting them from the market. But at one time they formed a part of the education of the good housewives of Great Britain. Home wines were chiefly made from plums, apples, gooseberries, bilberries, elderberries, blackberries, currants (red and black), raspberries, cherries, cowslips, parsnips, raisins, greengages, damsons, ginger, oranges, and lemons. Less commonly and in form

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FRENCH WINES.

FRENCH WINES.

Reims and Epernay are the two great centres of the Champagne district; but Reims, from its size and antiquity, must be considered its capital. Here are the establishments of Pommery &amp; Greno, Ernest Moy, Théophile Roederer &amp; Co., Louis Roederer &amp; Co., Henriot &amp; Co., Permet &amp; Fils, De St. Marceaux &amp; Co., Werlé &amp; Co. (successors to the renowned Veuve Cliquot), Heidsieck &amp; Co., De Lossy &amp; Co., G. H. Mumm &amp; Co., Jules Mum

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Germany.

Germany.

The Germans, says Cyrus Redding, like vain men of other nations, have wasted a good deal of idle conjecture on the antiquity of the culture of the vine in their country; and then, as though to show by example that this waste of idle conjecture is not confined to the Germans, Mr. Redding continues the investigation of this important matter himself. In the opinion of an experienced merchant these wines have a “distinct character and classification of their own.” Their alcoholic strength is low, av

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Greece.

Greece.

The vinification of Greece is commonly imperfect. Most of its wines become vinegar in summer. Avoid, says a well-known guide-book, the wine of this country, which is generally acid and always impure. [31] The best Greek wines are those of the islands Ithaca, Zante, Tenos, Samos, Thera (Santorin), [32] and Cyprus. The white wine of Zante, called Verdea , resembles Madeira in flavour. The wine of Naxos is of considerable strength, and is greatly improved by age. A quantity of it, known as Vino San

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Hungary.

Hungary.

The wines of Hungary, we are told, “possess considerable body with a moderate astringency.” The varieties of wine known as Ausbruch and Maszlacs , including the Tokays , Rust , Menes , and many more, are of the most important character. Without the addition of dry berries the so-called natural wine or Szamorodni is obtained. The Tokay essence, a very sweet wine, should be also very old. When fifty years in bottle it costs some £3 [33] for a small flask. Ausbruch, also sweet, should be also old.

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Italy.

Italy.

That Italy produces good wines is, says Cyrus Redding, undeniable. She also produces wines that are very bad. The best Italian wines are believed to be of Tuscany. As Hafiz is the authority for Shiraz , so Redi’s Bacco in Toscana should be consulted for the wines of Italy. Monte Pulciano is of a purple hue, sweet and slightly astringent. It is to this wine that Redi gives the palm, calling it la manna di Monte Pulciano . The wine of Chianti , near Sienna, is well known. Artiminio , Poncino , Ant

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Madeira.

Madeira.

Wine is first mentioned as a product of Funchal, the capital of Madeira, in the fifteenth century. In 1662, when Charles II. married the Infanta Catherine of Bragança, English merchants began to settle in Madeira. The principal varieties of Madeira are Malvasia , Bual , Sercial , Tinta , and Verdelho (the Verdea of Tuscany). In England, Madeira is now within the reach of all. At the beginning of this century, it was known only to connoisseurs. The “fine rich old Boal ” is fairly familiar, and if

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Persia.

Persia.

The ancient, most famous wines of this country were those of Chorassan, Turan, and Mazanderan. These places still produce wines; but their characteristics and reputation have, it is affirmed, become blended in the wine of Shiraz, in the province of Ferdistan, on the Persian Gulf. Chardin, the Frenchman, describes this wine as of excellent quality, but of course not so fine as the French wines. The German, Kämpfer, puts Shiraz on the same level with the best Burgundy and Champagne. He who wishes

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Portugal.

Portugal.

Portugal : Peso da Regoa—Four Methods of Cultivation of Vine—White and Black Ports—The Quintas —Tarragona—Charneco. Russia : Kahetia—Gumbrinskoé. Sicily : Marsala. Spain : Malaga—Sherry—Amontillado. Switzerland : Chiavenna—St. Gall—The Canton of Vaud. Cider : Derivation—Ainsworth—Gerard—Bacon—Evelyn—Turberville—Macaulay—Phillips. Perry. One hundred and fifty years ago, in the small town of Peso da Regoa, then called Regua only, near the confluence of the Corgo with the Douro, lived a single fish

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Russia.

Russia.

Kahetia is a wine produced in a district of that name, east of Tiflis. It is of two descriptions, red and white, and is much esteemed throughout Transcaucasia. As it is kept in skins made tight with naphtha, it has generally a slight taste of leather and petroleum. Gumbrinskoé is a sweet wine grown in the Gumbri district of the Caucasus. Donskoé Champanskoé , the champagne of the Don, is said by Dr. Charnock to be a very good wine, and better than many sorts drunk in Britain. Russian wines gener

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Sicily.

Sicily.

A thousand years before Christ, says Mr. Simmonds, districts of Sicily were famous for wine. The coins of Naxos (500 B.C. ) bear the head of Bacchus on the obverse, on the reverse Pan, or a bunch of grapes. Of Sicilian wines, the light amber or brown wine of Marsala is best known. There is Ingham’s L.P., and Woodhouse’s; there is also the Old Brown. The Faro is perhaps the strongest wine of Sicily. The wine of Terre Forte is made near Etna, in some vineyards of Benedictine monks. Marsala, as we

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Spain.

Spain.

As Spain succeeds France geographically, so it follows it in the excellence of its vinous productions. Throughout all ages this country has been distinguished for its wines. But the Spaniard’s chief glory under heaven is in the preparation of white dry fortified wines such as Sherries, and sweet wines such as Malagas . In the province of Andalusia is situated Xeres de la Frontera, and the convent of Paxarete , which produces a rich sweet sparkling drink. Here, too, are the vines of the vino secc

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Switzerland.

Switzerland.

Swiss wines are commonly consumed only in Switzerland. The best is produced in the Grisons, called Chiavenna , aromatic and white from the red grape. A white Malvasia of good quality is made in the Valais. It is luscious, as is Chiavenna . The Valais also furnishes red wines, made at La Marque and Coquempin in the district of Martigny. Schaffhausen gives plenty of red wine. The wine of blood [45] is manufactured at Basle. These wines are also known as those of the Hospital and St. Jaques . The r

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Perry.

Perry.

Perry is prepared from pears, as cider from apples. It is capable of being used in the adulteration of champagne. [49] The harsher, redder, and more tawny pears produce the best drink. Perry is less popular than cider, but some consider it superior. [50] The Invention of Brandy—Early Alchemists—Aqua Vitæ—Distillation—The Still-room—Ladies Drinking—Nantes and Charente—Johnson’s Idea of Brandy—The Charente District—Manufacture of Brandy—The Cognac Firms....

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BRANDY.

BRANDY.

Who invented Brandy? is a question that cannot be authoritatively answered offhand; but the good people of some parts of Germany hold that it was the Devil. And their legend is, at all events, circumstantial. Every one who is at all acquainted with old legends is fully aware that the Father of Evil is extremely simple, and has allowed himself, many times, to be outwitted by man. Once, especially, he was so guileless as to put trust in a Steinbach man, who cajoled him into entering an old beech t

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GIN.

GIN.

Gin is an alcoholic drink distilled from malt or from unmalted barley or other grain, and afterwards rectified and flavoured. The word is French, genièvre , juniper, corrupted into Geneva , and subsequently into its present form. It is to the berries of the juniper that the best Hollands owes its flavour. Perhaps one of the earliest allusions to gin is in Massinger’s Duke of Milan (1623), Act I., scene i., when Graccho, a creature of Mariana, says to the courtier Julio, of a chance drunkard, In

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WHISKEY.

WHISKEY.

No matter in what country, wherever it was known, alcohol has been hailed as the Water of Life, even in the Gaelic. Uisge-beatha , or, as we term it, whiskey, bears literally that interpretation. This is “the wine of the country,” both in Ireland and Scotland, and the quantities drank, without any apparently hurtful effect, is astonishing to a southern Englishman. Northwards, on the border land, it is a question whether more whiskey is not drunk, pro rata , than in Scotland. Still, even there, e

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RUM.

RUM.

The etymon of the name of this spirit is somewhat dubious. Some have it that it was formerly spelt (as it now is in French) Rhum , and that it is derived from rheum , or ῥεῦμα, a flowing, on account of its manufacture from the juice of the sugar cane. Others say that, as rum has the strongest odour of any distilled spirit, it is a corruption of the word aroma . Rum is made from the refuse of sugar, and can, of course, be produced wherever sugar is grown. This is notably the case in the West Indi

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LIQUEURS. I.

LIQUEURS. I.

The word liqueur has been traced by Eichhoff to a Sanskrit root, viz., laks or lauc , to see, appear. It is now commonly understood of a drink obtained by distillation, a beverage of which alcohol is the base. To the ancients liqueurs appear to have been unknown. The art of distillation on which they depend was not apparently discovered till the middle ages. Fermented wines, of which some description will be found in another part of this book, occupied their place at dinner and dessert. Old Fale

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German Liqueurs.

German Liqueurs.

Lemon peel, 8 ounces; orange peel, 8 ounces; figs, 8 ounces; dates, 4 ounces; jessamine flowers, 4 ounces; cinnamon, 3 ounces; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; orange-flower water, 2 quarts; pure water, 12 quarts; capillaire, 8 quarts. Colour, [81] rose. Parsley seed, 6 ounces; carrot seed, 5 ounces; aniseed, orris root, 2 ounces each; mace, 1½ ounces; spirit, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; rose water, 7 pints; water, 11 quarts; capillaire, 9 quarts. Colour, yellow. Bitter almonds, lemon peel, 12 ounce

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Dantzig Liqueurs.

Dantzig Liqueurs.

Orange peel, lemon peel, 1 pound each; cinnamon, ginger, 6 ounces each; rosemary leaves, 2 ounces; galanga, [83] mace, cloves, 1 ounce each; orris root, 1½ ounces; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; capillaire, 8 quarts; water, 14 quarts. Colour, red. Figs, 12 ounces; cumin, 5 ounces; leaves of rosemary, fennel seed, 4 ounces each; cinnamon, 5 ounces; sage, sassafras, 2 ounces each; lavender flowers, camomile flowers, orris root, 4 ounces each; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; capillaire,

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French Liqueurs.

French Liqueurs.

Angelica seed, 3 ounces; coriander seed, 2 ounces; fennel seed, aniseed, ½ ounce each; lemons sliced, oranges sliced, 6 ounces each; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 12 quarts; water, 9½ pints; capillaire, 3 pints. Lemon peel, 6 ounces; coriander, 4 ounces; aniseed, juniper berries, cinnamon, 2 ounces each; angelica root, 1½ ounces; saffron, 1 ounce; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 10 quarts; orange-flower water, 2 quarts; capillaire, 4 quarts; water, 8 quarts. Myrrh, aloes, 2 drams each; cloves, nutmegs, 3

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A Yard of Flannel.

A Yard of Flannel.

A yard of flannel , otherwise called egg flip .—Boil a quart of ale in a tinned saucepan. Beat up yolks of four with the whites of two eggs. Add four tablespoonfuls of brown sugar and a soupçon of nutmeg. Pour on this by degrees the hot ale, taking care to prevent mixture from curdling. Pour back and forward repeatedly, raising the hand as high as possible. This produces the frothing and smoothness essential to the goodness of the drink. It is called a yard of flannel from its fleecy appearance.

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White Tiger’s Milk

White Tiger’s Milk

(à la Thomas Dunn English, Esq.). Half a gill apple jack, ½ gill peach brandy, ½ teaspoonful aromatic tincture, [102] white of an egg well beaten. Sweeten with white sugar to taste. Pour the mixture into 1 quart of milk, stir well, and sprinkle with nutmeg. This receipt will make a quart of the compound....

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Bottled Velvet

Bottled Velvet

(à la Sir John Bayley). A bottle of Moselle, ½ a pint of sherry, small quantity of lemon peel, 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar. Well mix, add a sprig of verbena, strain, and ice....

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Stone Fence.

Stone Fence.

One wine glass of whiskey (Bourbon), 2 small lumps of ice. Use large bar-glass, and fill up with sweet cider....

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Sleeper.

Sleeper.

To a gill of old rum add 1 ounce of sugar, 2 yolks of eggs, and the juice of half a lemon. Boil ½ a pint of water with 6 cloves, 6 coriander seeds, and a bit of cinnamon. Whisk all together, and strain into a tumbler....

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Rumfustian.

Rumfustian.

Whisk yolks of a dozen eggs, and put into a quart of beer and a pint of gin. Put a bottle of sherry into a saucepan, with a stick of cinnamon, a grated nutmeg, a dozen lumps of sugar, and the thin rind of a lemon. When the wine boils, pour it on gin and beer, and drink hot....

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Bimbo Punch.

Bimbo Punch.

Steep in 1 quart cognac brandy 6 lemons, cut in thin slices, for six hours. Then remove lemon without squeezing. Dissolve 1 pound loaf sugar in 1 quart boiling water, and add this hot solution to the cognac. Let it cool....

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Bishop.

Bishop.

Stick an orange full of cloves, and roast it. When brown, cut it in quarters, and pour over it 1 quart of hot port. Add sugar to taste, and let mixture simmer for half an hour....

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Archbishop.

Archbishop.

The same as Bishop , with substitution of best claret for port....

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Cardinal.

Cardinal.

The same as Archbishop , with substitution of champagne for claret....

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Pope.

Pope.

The same as Cardinal , with substitution of Burgundy for champagne....

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Locomotive.

Locomotive.

Put 2 yolks of eggs into a goblet with 1 oz. of honey, a little essence of cloves, and a liqueur glass of Curaçoa; add 1 pint of high Burgundy made hot, whisk together, and serve hot in glasses....

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Pousse l’Amour.

Pousse l’Amour.

Fill a small wineglass half full of maraschino, then put in yolk of 1 egg; in this pour vanilla cordial, and dash the surface with cognac....

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Blue Blazer

Blue Blazer

(use two large silver-plated mugs with handles). One wine glass Scotch whiskey, 1 ditto boiling water. Mix whiskey and water in one mug; ignite, and, while blazing, pour from one mug to the other. Sweeten to taste, and serve in a bar tumbler, with a piece of lemon peel. Blue Blazer is really nothing more than ordinary whiskey and water....

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Black Stripe.

Black Stripe.

Into a small bar-glass pour 1 wine glass of Santa Cruz rum and 1 tablespoonful of molasses; cool with shaved ice, or fill up with boiling water, according to season. Grate nutmeg on top. This is ordinary rum and water. The following appeared in Moonshine , and may fitly conclude our chapter on American drinks, for which the verdant English youth has paid to the cunning dispenser so many nimble ninepences:— AN AMERICAN BAR-TENDER. Definition—Different Modes of Manufacture—Antiquity—Osiris, the In

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Africa.

Africa.

Captain Clapperton (Expedition to Africa , i., 133, 187) found at Wow-wow, the metropolis of Borghoo, a kind of ale bearing the name of pitto , obtained from the same grain as that used for the same purpose in Dahomey, and by a process nearly similar to the brewing of beer in England from malt, only that no hops were added, a defect which prevented it keeping for any length of time. The people of the countries from the Gambia to the Senegal use a kind of beer called ballo . At a village called W

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America.

America.

Persimon beer, from the fruit of the date plum ( Diospyros Virginiana ), is drunk in North America. In South America, long before the Spanish conquest, the Indians prepared and drank a beer obtained from Indian corn, called chica or maize beer. The process followed in making chica is very similar to that of beer brewing in Britain. The maize is moistened with water, allowed partially to germinate and dried in the sun. The maize malt so prepared is bruised, treated with warm water, and allowed to

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Austria.

Austria.

The most famous beer is perhaps the Pilsener, or white beer, from Pilsen in Bohemia, the favourite drink in Vienna. Gratzer is brewed from wheat malt....

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Bavaria.

Bavaria.

The peculiar flavour of the Bavarian ale is perhaps a result of the very free use of pitch or resinous matters to protect the wood of the fermenting tun, but it seems more probable that it is due to the commixture of pine tops. Schenk beer is draught beer, in contradistinction to Lager , or store beer. The one is drunk in summer, the other in winter. Bock beer [107] and Salvator , dark heavy kinds of stout, are both well known. Kaiserslautern is the name of a famous brewage in Rhenish Bavaria...

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Belgium.

Belgium.

White beers, the result of a mixture of oats and wheat, called Walgbaert and Happe , were made in Brussels in the fifteenth century. Roetbier and Zwartbier were, as their names tell us, red and black beers. Cuyte was at one time a favourite and aristocratic drink. It has since fallen from its high estate. There are some forty kinds of beer, at least, now manufactured in Brussels. The white beer of Louvain in South Brabant is the most esteemed; but an Englishman has described it as having the fla

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Borneo.

Borneo.

The aborigines [108] of Borneo, if we are to believe Commodore Roggewein, [109] are the “basest, most cruel and perfidious people in the world.” They are “honest, industrious, strongly affectionate and self-denying,” if we are to credit the account of the Italian missionary, Antonio Ventimiglia. When such diversity of opinion is manifested about the people, some discordance might naturally be supposed to exhibit itself in the matter of their potations. But this is not thus. The great drink of th

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China.

China.

Tar-asun , extracted from barley or wheat, is the beer of China. It is sweet, and commonly drunk warm, before distillation. The mixed liquor from which it is prepared is called tchoo , or wine; after that, sam or san is prefixed, to show its hot nature. Samtchoo —the word is spelt in many ways—may, says Barrow ( Travels , p. 304), be considered the basis of the best arrack , itself a mere rectification of the above spirit with the addition of molasses and the juice of the cocoa-nut tree. Bell’s

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England.

England.

The foregoing verses epitomise the praise of good beer. The first is from one of the earliest known drinking songs in the English language—the last is an old Wassail song—the Wassail bowl, which was of hot spiced ale, with roasted apples bobbing therein,—a kindly way of welcome on New Year’s Eve, of Saxon derivation as its name “Wes-hal,” be of health , or your health , testifies. That the Anglo-Saxon took kindly to his beer, we have already seen; and that that feeling exists at the present day

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France.

France.

In France beer was originally known as cervoise from the Low Latin cerevisia . There are two sorts, white and red; the latter has more hops. When much grain enters into the composition it is called double bière . Its qualities vary here as elsewhere, according to the grain employed in its manufacture, the malt, and the fermentation. It has been commonly adulterated with ledum palustre or wild rosemary, a strong narcotic. Allusions to beer are comparatively infrequent in French works. The details

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Germany.

Germany.

Of the many beers of this country, perhaps the most deserving of notice here is the Mum of Brunswick, well known and appreciated for its excellence. The process observed in its manufacture has been, it is said, always kept a mystery, [113] and to prevent discovery, the men who brewed it were hired for life. The origin of the word Mum is obscure. The German Mumme , a strong ale producing silence [114] from intoxication; the Danish word for a mask, because it exhibits the parties drinking it with

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India.

India.

The Hill-tribes of India commonly consume Pachwai , prepared from rice and other grain in Bengal. In Nepaul a beer named Phaur , made from rice or wheat, is brewed much in the same manner as English ale, which it is said strongly to resemble. It is in considerable repute and, according to Hamilton, [116] wheat and barley are in Nepaul reared for the express purpose of making the beer and other drinks similar to it. In the West Indies the negroes make a fermented drink resembling beer from cassav

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Japan.

Japan.

Kæmpfer, in his History of Japan , i., 121, tells us that in the manufacture of Sacke or Saki , [119] a strong and wholesome beer produced from rice, the Japanese are not excelled by any other people. This beer, a very ancient drink, is white when fresh, but becomes brown, if it remains long in the cask. It is manufactured to the highest degree of excellence in Osacca, and thence exported to other countries. The beer’s name is said to be derived from that of this city, being the genitive case of

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Russia.

Russia.

Quass , or Kvas , a word signifying sour , an ancient Scythian beverage, is the ordinary household beer of Russia. A variety of it called Kisslyschtschy is variably described as exceedingly pleasant, and as an abominable small beer, something like sweet wort or treacle beer, almost as vile as the Vodki or Russian gin. These matters of course depend on individual taste. The Russian pivo , also in common use, is said to resemble German beer, but German beers are many and diverse....

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Sweden.

Sweden.

Swedish beer is made at Stockholm. Spruce beer is much in use. This drink is said to have originated from a decoction of the tops of the spruce fir. In Norway and Denmark as well as in Sweden this liquor is made from boiling the leaves, rind and branches of pines. But the Spruce beer of Great Britain and Ireland—either white or brown, according as sugar or molasses is employed in the making—is an essence or fluid extract procured by boiling the shoots, tops, bark and cones of the Scotch fir ( pi

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Tartary.

Tartary.

The beer to be met with in Tartary is for the most part of an indifferent quality. That brewed from barley and millet by the Turkestans, termed baksoum , more resembles water boiled with rice than beer. They, however, admire it, and affirm that it is an invaluable remedy for dysentery. The reader will have already perceived that it is a cosmopolitan practice to pamper the appetite under the pretence of preserving the health. Baksoum is acid in taste, of no scent, a feeble intoxicant, and cannot

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TEA. I.

TEA. I.

Of all non-alcoholic beverages, Tea claims the pre-eminence, being drank by nearly, if not quite, half the population of the world, and common alike to all climes and all nations. In China it is the national beverage, and it is used not only as an ordinary drink, but it is the chief factor in visits of ceremony, and in hospitality. Japan, too, is a large consumer, and its houses of entertainment are “Tea” houses. In the wilds of Thibet its use is universal, and so it is on the steppes of Tartary

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TEA. II.

TEA. II.

When tea was first introduced into Europe is still an unsettled question, and the earliest mention that the writers can find (that is, to verify) is in a volume of Travels by Father Giovanni Pietro Maffei, [126] published 1588 (book vi., p. 109). Speaking of his travels in China, he says: “Quanquam è vitibus more nostro non exprimunt merum, uvas quodam condimenti genere in hyemem adservare, mos est; cœterum ex herba quadam expressus liquor admodum salutaris, nomine Chia, calidus hauritur, ut apu

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TEA. III.

TEA. III.

By Garway’s Advertisement we get at one fact, that the use of tea had not been brought into popular use before 1657: a fact which is borne out by that old quid nunc Pepys, who would surely have noticed it, as, indeed, he did as soon as it was brought under his ken. He mentions it in his diary under date 25th Sept., 1661, as being then a novelty, at all events to him. “I did send for a Cup of Tee, a China Drink of which I never drank before.” And again, 28th June, 1667, “Home, and there find my w

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MATÉ.

MATÉ.

Yerba Maté, or Paraguay Tea, which is made from the leaves of the Ilex Paraguayensis , or Brazilian Holly, takes the place of Thea Sinensis in nearly the whole of South America, where it has been used by the Indians from time immemorial, and by their conquerors and settlers since the seventeenth century. It grows abundantly in Paraguay, Corrientes, Chaco, and the south of Brazil, forming woods called yerbales . One of the principal centres of the Maté industry is the Villa Real, a small town abo

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CUCA.

CUCA.

Cuca or Coca ( Erythroxylon Coca ) is now used as a drink, the leaves, hitherto, having been masticated. It has very valuable medicinal qualities, one of the chief being the ability to sustain fatigue by those who use it. It grows in the valleys of the eastern slope of the Andes, in Bolivia, and Peru; wild in many places, but that in use is generally cultivated. It has been known ever since the Conquest of Peru, notices of it being very early; and, considering the length of time this knowledge h

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KOLA.

KOLA.

Kola can scarcely be called a tea, because, as a drink, it is produced from a nut, instead of a leaf, but it is put here because it contains the alkaloid Theine . Its botanical name is Sterculia acuminata , and it is a native of tropical West Africa, although now introduced into the West Indies and Brazils. The earliest mention of it to be found, is in “the Sieur Brüe’s Journey from Albreda, on the river Gambia, to Kachao, by land, in the year 1700.” Shortly after his start from Gambia, he was e

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COFFEE.

COFFEE.

Next to tea, Coffee is, perhaps, the infusion most drank, its use being universal in Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and most Mahometan countries; and on the continent of Europe, with the exception of Russia, it is a greater favourite than tea. In Norway and Sweden it is especially drank, whilst tea is comparatively disused. It is the seed of an evergreen shrub ( Coffea Arabica ) which grows from six to twelve feet high, with a stem of from six to fifteen inches in circumference. When the blossom falls o

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COCOA.

COCOA.

Linnæus was so fond of the drink made from the seeds of this plant that he gave it the name of Cacao Theobroma , or “Food of the Gods.” As a drink it cannot be classed among the infusions, like tea, nor is it roasted and ground to powder like coffee; but the seeds are crushed and mealed in a mill, and from this oily meal is made the thin gruel which we drink as cocoa. It seems to have been originally a native of Mexico, and is now cultivated there, in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru

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AËRATED DRINKS.

AËRATED DRINKS.

Popular among non-intoxicant drinks is the homely Ginger Beer, so dearly beloved of thirsty holiday makers and small children; dear also to the boating man in connection with good ale, as “Shandy-gaff.” And the stone bottle, in which it used generally to be encased, is familiar to every reader. We say, advisedly, used , because now-a-days it is also put up in glass bottles; nay, it is sold in casks, like beer, to the publicans and others. The probability is that, in the old days, its somewhat mu

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MILK.

MILK.

Milk is the first liquid food taken by man, in common with all mammals, after his birth; and this liquid is so happily ordered, as to contain all the elements of food necessary for him, at this period of his existence. The new-born mammal naturally, and directly after its birth, seeks the fountain of its nourishment, and even that most helpless of all created beings, a baby, is soon taught where to seek its food. But we have to consider milk as a beverage, more than as a food, and, as a drink, i

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ADDITIONAL DRINKS.

ADDITIONAL DRINKS.

In the Jewish prayers there is an especial, exclusive and extensive blessing upon wine, which runs in the following wise:— “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, universal King, for the vine, and for the fruit of the vine, and for the produce of the field, and for the land of delight and goodness and amplitude which Thou hast been pleased to give as an inheritance to thy people Israel, to eat of its fruit, and to be satisfied with its goodness.” Then follow petitions for the divine mercy upon those

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