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 home73–84 of 228 recipes
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Always alcohol-freeBreakfast Cocoa the 1886 Way, Half Milk and Half Water
Cocoa powder worked to a paste with a spoonful of boiling water, then made up with equal parts of boiling water and boiled milk: the breakfast cocoa of a Massachusetts chocolate maker’s 1886 booklet, at the center of an 1898 lawsuit.
Always alcohol-freeCapillaire, the 1829 Orange-Flower Summer Draught
A thick sugar syrup scented with orange-flower water, stirred into cold water with a little lemon juice: capillaire, which Meg Dods’s Edinburgh cookbook of 1829 called a pleasant summer-draught.
Always alcohol-freeChoca, Half Coffee and Half Chocolate from 1866
Fresh coffee poured through the grounds and chocolate melted into hot milk, mixed half and half in the cup: the choca of Pierre Blot’s 1866 New York cookery lectures.
Goldwasser, the Danzig Gold-Leaf Liqueur from 1869
Clean spirit steeped for a week with mace, cinnamon, citron, aniseed and rose, sweetened with an equal measure of syrup and finished with flakes of gold leaf: the Goldwasser of William Terrington’s Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks, 1869.
Hot Spiced Rum with Butter, from 1862
A teaspoon of sugar, a wine-glass of Jamaica rum, allspice and cloves, and a piece of butter the size of half a chestnut, filled up with hot water: Jerry Thomas’s hot spiced rum of 1862.
Likier Malinowy, a Warsaw Raspberry Liqueur from 1885
Ripe raspberries steeped in spirit for exactly twenty-four hours, twice, then filtered and poured into a thick sugar syrup: the raspberry liqueur of Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa’s Warsaw household book of 1885.
Likier Różany, a Warsaw Rose Liqueur from 1885
Spirit scented with rose, poured slowly into a hot sugar syrup and tinted red with cochineal: the rose liqueur of Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa’s Warsaw household book of 1885, made today with culinary rose water.
Mary Rose, the 1939 Havana Vodka and Tomato Cocktail
Vodka and tomato juice in equal parts with Worcestershire sauce and lime, shaken: the Mary Rose of Havana’s Bar La Florida, printed in 1939 under another name than Bloody Mary.
Philadelphia Fish House Punch, Cognac, Peach Brandy and Rum from 1862
Lemon juice and sugar with Cognac, peach brandy and Jamaica rum, lengthened with plenty of cold water and served over ice: the Philadelphia Fish-House Punch of Jerry Thomas’s 1862 bar guide.
Always alcohol-freePrairie Oyster, Egg Yolk in Worcester Sauce from 1920s London
A whole egg yolk in Worcester sauce and malt vinegar, with red pepper and salt on top: the Prairie Oyster of Harry MacElhone’s London bar book of the 1920s, with no alcohol in it.
Red Hammer, Hollywood’s 1942 Vodka and Tomato Juice
Vodka and tomato juice with a dash of lemon: the Red Hammer that LIFE called a new Hollywood cocktail in August 1942, at a Russian-themed party. We stir it over ice.
Rum Booze, Oxford’s 1847 Egg Posset of Hot White Wine
White wine boiled with cinnamon and lemon-rubbed sugar, poured onto beaten egg yolks with nutmeg and tossed between two jugs to a froth: the Rum Booze of Oxford Night Caps, 1847, which has no rum in it.
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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.