Recipes
Drinks from the old books, with and without alcohol. Each one names its source and scales to the size of your party.
Drinks from the old books.
Or start from what you have at home121–132 of 228 recipes
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Brandy Shrub with Lemon and White Wine
Brandy steeped three days with lemon juice, lemon peel and nutmeg, then mixed with white wine and sugar and strained twice: the English shrub of 1739, at about 24% ABV.
Bronx, Gin, Two Vermouths and Orange
Equal thirds of gin, French and Italian vermouth, with orange bitters, a spoonful of orange juice and a squeeze of peel: the Bronx as William Boothby printed it in 1908.
Always alcohol-freeCherry Phosphate, the Soda Fountain Cherry Sour
Fresh cherry syrup, cold soda water and acid phosphate added last, stirred in a short glass: the soda fountain’s cherry sour, after Saxe’s dispensers’ guide of 1894.
Always alcohol-freeChilled Tomato Juice, Seasoned at the Table
Ripe tomatoes simmered soft, pressed through a sieve and lightly salted, then seasoned glass by glass from the USDA’s 1934 list: Worcestershire, Tabasco, celery seed and more.
Cider Cup à la Ensor
Sparkling cider with curaçao, brandy, rock sugar, lemon and a slice of cucumber, poured over shaved ice and served at once: a summer cider cup from 1869, at half quantity.
Claret Cup, Iced Claret with Soda and Borage
Claret chilled with lemon peel and sugar, then sherry, brandy, noyau, maraschino, borage and soda water: the claret cup of the Edwardian tennis tea, from 1906.
Always alcohol-freeClear Jelly Lemonade with Seville and Sweet Oranges
Orange and lemon peel steeped four hours, sugar syrup and fresh juice, run through a jelly bag until bright: Mrs. Rundell’s 1813 party lemonade, alcohol-free.
Digby’s Weak Hydromel, a Light Mead of 1669
A gallon of light, gingery mead at about 4.4% ABV: one part honey to eighteen of water, boiled an hour with ginger, clove and rosemary, from Digby’s 1669 book.
Always alcohol-freeEgg Cream: Chocolate Syrup, Milk and Seltzer
Chocolate syrup, cold milk and seltzer stirred to a white head, plus the 1897 egg cream that really did have egg yolks and cream in it, topped with nutmeg.
Always alcohol-freeEgg Gruel, Hot Milk and Beaten Eggs
Two beaten eggs stirred into a pint of milk and heated until scalding but never boiling, then sweetened and finished with nutmeg or lemon: Lettice Bryan’s egg drink of 1839.
Egg Nogg, the 1862 Bar Eggnog
One egg, a wine-glass of Cognac, half as much St. Croix rum, sugar and a third of a tumbler of milk, shaken with shaved ice and topped with nutmeg: Jerry Thomas’s eggnog of 1862.
Always alcohol-freeFountain Root Beer, Syrup and Soda Water
Root beer extract stirred into a heavy sugar syrup and drawn with very cold soda water, as an 1897 soda manual made it: never fermented, and alcohol-free with an alcohol-free extract.
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Absinthe Frappé, Shaken until the Shaker Frosts
A pony of absinthe and a pony of water with a dash of anisette, shaken with fine ice until the shaker frosts, strained and topped with seltzer: the absinthe frappé of 1895.
Absinthium Romanum, Roman Wormwood Wine
Apicius’s Roman vermouth: mild white wine steeped for a day with wormwood, mastic, bay and saffron, unsweetened and bitter by design.
Always alcohol-freeAdynamon, Pliny’s Wine Without Strength
White grape must boiled with half its volume of water until the water is gone: the Roman ‘wine’ given to people who were not allowed wine. Alcohol-free.