49 / 66
CUPS ANB THEIR CUSTOMS.
49
was enjoying, the water was the only constituent of
English production, and that the brandy, lemon, spice,
and sngar were all foreigners.
WINE CUPS.
OF all compound drinks, those having wine for their
basis require the greatest care in their preparation and
the greatest nicety in their composition. This will
be evident to any one who remembers the fact that
not one wine-drinker out of twenty, except by sub-
terfuge or previous practice, can distinguish, with his
eyes closed, a glass of sherry from one of port, although,
when wide awake, no one ever confounds the two; and
there are few who cannot distinguish a glass of fine old
white port when they have the chance of tasting it.
It is not our object, however, to discourse on the
merits of particular wines, but to
give
recipes for
the blending of such as are most palatable and whole-
some, First on the list we place Claret Cup, as the
most agreeable, wholesome, easily compounded, and
easily obtained, and because, under the new tariff, most
people have learned to distinguish the difference be-
tween the two varieties of French wines, more or less,
though at present, we fear, to use an expression of
Charles Dickens,
u
generally less/
3