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U. K. B. G. GUIDE TO DRINKS
public. Probably the most used bitters are Orange Bitters, but
there are many registered brands of bitters as well ; such as besides
Angostura, "Bitter Secrestat" and "Amer Picon" in France,
"Abbott's Aged Bitters"prepared in Baltimore since 186.5 by the
Abbott family,"Fernet Branca"and"Campari"from Italy, etc.
Bodega.
The Spanish name for a wine store or cellar: the name has
been adopted in many lands for wine bars and cellars.
Bond.
The Store, vault or cellar in which wine and spirits are kept
under Customs and Excise supervision before duty has been paid.
The purchaser of wine or spirit'in bond'is liable for the payment
of the duty thereon before he can take'delivery'of his purchase.
To pay duty on and take delivery of wine and spirits in bond
is'to clear from bond '.
Bottles.
Bottles are containers in which to store and carry liquids. The
earliest bottles were made of skins sewed together, but the Ancients
also had bottles made of stone, alabaster, glass, ivory, horn, silver,
and common earthenware. Modern wine-bottles are made of glass
composed chiefly of silica, soda and lime in varying proportions.
The shades of green of wine-bottles, other than plain white ones,
are irnparted by iron oxide. Quart and pint bottles must, by law,
contain a fourth and an eighth of a gallon, but the actual liquid
contents of bottles, half-bottles or quarter-bottles are not legally
defined, a fact taken advantage of by some unscrupulous dealers
in wine. According to current commercial usage, wine bottles
should never appreciably vary from the accepted standard of
contents of 26.2/3 fluid ounces per reputed quart, or 6 quarts to
^e gallon, equal to 4 imperial quarts of 40 fluid ounces each.
The more usual names of bottles in Great Britain, besides half-
bottles and quarter-bottles, are the magnum (two bottles), double
magnum (four bottles), tappithen (three imperial quarts), imperial
pint (three-quarters of the reputed quart or ordinary bottle).
Outsize bottles, for show purposes more than for practical use:
Jeroboam or Double-Magnum 4 bottles or 3.20 litres or 0.70 gals.
Rehoboam
6
4.80 „
1.05
Methuselah
8
6.40 „
1.40
Salmanazar
12
9.60 „
2.10
Balthazar
16
12.80 „
2.80
Nebuchadnezzar
20
16.00 „
3.50
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