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 home49–60 of 228 recipes
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The Cricket Club Gin Sling, Singapore 1913
Gin, cherry brandy, Bénédictine and lime juice in equal parts, with bitters, ice and water: the gin sling two members ordered at the Singapore Cricket Club in 1913.
Warm Mead with Egg and Butter, Digby’s 1669 Morning Draught
Mead warmed gently with an egg yolk and a knob of fresh butter, drunk hot first thing: a morning cup from Sir Kenelm Digby’s 1669 book, at about 10% ABV.
Alcohol-free versionAlcohol-Free Punch Romaine with White Grape Juice
Escoffier’s half-frozen Punch à la Romaine without the wine or rum: white grape juice, orange and lemon steeped in syrup, churned to a soft ice and lightened with Italian meringue.
Athole Brose, Heather Honey and Whisky
One part heather honey to two of Scotch whisky, stirred until smooth, with an egg yolk beaten in if you like: the Highland drink as an Edinburgh cookbook printed it in 1829.
Always alcohol-freeEscoffier’s Lemonade with Seltzer Water
Lemon zest and juice steeped cold in sugar syrup for three hours, strained and lengthened with a siphon of seltzer, with a thin round of lemon in each glass: Escoffier’s lemonade of 1907.
Alcohol-free versionGlasgow Sherbet, the Punch Before the Rum
Sugar melted in cold water, a dozen lemons’ juice strained in, the bowl filled with the coldest water and finished with limes: Glasgow punch as it was tasted before the rum.
Alcohol-free versionHomemade Root Beer Syrup with Sarsaparilla and Ginger
A modern root syrup of sarsaparilla, roasted dandelion root, fresh ginger and dark brown sugar, served the 1890s fountain way with cold soda water. No sassafras, no fermenting.
Always alcohol-freeKellogg’s Pink Lemonade, Colored with Berry Juice
Plain lemonade made the 1892 way, three lemons to a quart, then half a cup of strawberry, raspberry, currant or cranberry juice to every pint: pink lemonade with nothing in it but fruit.
Koumiss, the 1892 Fermented Milk Drink
A quart bottle of milk, a little yeast and sugar, six warm hours and a week in the cold: Ella Kellogg’s 1892 koumiss, the fizzy cow’s-milk version of the steppe’s fermented mare’s milk.
Lemon Beer, the Overnight Ginger and Lemon Brew
Boiling water poured over a sliced lemon, bruised ginger and sugar, started with yeast and bottled the next day: the simplest brewed drink in Albert Hopkins’s 1919 Home Made Beverages, at half a gallon.
Punch Royal, the 1710 Lime and Brandy Punch
Brandy, spring water, a pint of lime juice and a pound of double-refined sugar: William Salmon’s strong lime punch of 1710, from the years of Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts.
Always alcohol-freeSarah Josepha Hale’s Lemonade, Three Lemons to a Pint
Three lemons to a pint of cold water, sweetened to taste: the strong, plain lemonade that the woman behind the national Thanksgiving called the best drink for parties.
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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.