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CORDIALS AND LIQUEURS
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cordial was popular with the Scots, who now,
however, prefer their whisky unadorned.
Steep in one bottle of old Scotch whisky one
pint of white currants, stripped of their stalks, the
thin rind of a lemon, and one teaspoonful of essence
of ginger. Let the mixture stand for forty-eight
hours, and then strain through a hair sieve. Add
one pound of loaf-sugar, which will take at least a
day to thoroughly dissolve. Then bottle off and
cork well. It will be ready for use in three months,
but will keep longer.
A cordial which is but seldom asked for
nowadays was known in the seventeenth century
as
King Charles 11?s Surfeit-Water.
Take a gallon of the best aqua-vitte, and a
quart of brandy, and a quart of anniseed-water, a
pint of poppy-water, and a pint of damask - rose -
water; put these in a large glass jar, and put to it
a pound of fine powdered sugar, a pound and a half
of raisins stoned, a quarter of a pound of dates stoned
and sliced, one ounce of cinnamon bruised, cloves
one ounce, four nutmegs bruised, one stick of
licorice scraped and sliced ; let all these stand nine
days close covered, stirring three or four times a
day ; then add to it three pounds of fresh poppies,
or three handfuls of dried poppies, a sprigof angelica,
two or three of balm ; so let it stand a week longer,
then strain it out and bottle it.
And then notify the undertaker, I should
think.
The Merry Monarch had his faults,
but, surfeit or no surfeit, it is hard to believe
that a king could bring himself to lap such a