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LIQUORS AND RATAFIAS.
233. '.Apricot <!Iorbial.
Twen':.y-five apricots are cut in two; mash their pits, and put
all in a stone jar; add half a pound of sugar, six cloves, and half
a stick of cinnamon; pour one quart of cognac over it, cover or
cork it well; let it stand about three weeks in a warm place,
shake it once in a while; filter, and bottle.
234. '.Arrack.
Arrack is a strong, alcoholic beverage of light yellow color;
it is prepared in the East and West Indies from the juice of the
areca palm-tree, from the sugary juice of the blossoms of the
cocoa palm-tree, which is called toddy, from sugar-molasses or
from rice with palm-juice.
The arrack of Goa and Batavia are the best brands and of
very delicious odor and taste. The manufacturing is mostly done
in very simple, imperfect apparatus, chiefly on Java: the best
brand there is called Kiji, the second, Taupo, the last, Sichow.
235. JBahn <!Iorbial.
Infuse in one quart of fine cognac a handful of balm-leaves
for twenty-four hours in the sunlight or upon the stove; remove
the leaves, add one pound of powdered sugar, expose the cordial
two days to the sun, until the sugar is all dissolved; filter, and
bottle.
236.
Jlla.ste 11
\ir.sclJwa.s.s.er.This well-known, famous liquor is obtained in Switzerland,
mainly in the vicinity of Basie and in the Black Forest from the
black and very sweet berries of the wood-cherries; gather them
when they are very ripe in dry weather; free them from t1ieir
stalks, and mash them in large tubs with wooden mashers; mash
also a part of the pits; then fill the entire substance into casks,
each two-thirds full, and cover the bunghole.
The fermentation begins soon, and lasts nearly three weeks;
after fermentation is done, bring the whole into a distilling ap-