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 home97–108 of 228 recipes
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Always alcohol-freeHot Clam and Tomato Broth from 1919
Clam juice and tomato catsup stirred into a mug of boiling water and seasoned with salt, pepper and celery salt: the 1919 clam and tomato blend, a hot savory drink with no alcohol.
Iced Bouillon with Sherry from 1905
Beef bouillon cooked with carrot, onion, celery, parsley and bay, strained, flavored with a little sherry or Madeira and served cold in cups: Armour’s iced bouillon of 1905.
Champagne Cider with Orange-Flower Water, the 1869 Fortified Cider
Still hard cider with a little vodka, syrup and a few drops of orange-flower water, poured into small stemmed glasses: Terrington’s 1869 champagne cider, fortified and scented, in a modern version.
Champagne Cobbler, a Bottle to Four Glasses
A quarter bottle of champagne poured over shaved ice with sugar and a piece each of orange and lemon peel, dressed with berries and sipped through a straw: Jerry Thomas’s Champagne Cobbler of 1862.
Always alcohol-freeFannie Farmer’s Filtered Coffee with Cut Sugar and Cream
Fine-ground coffee in a strainer, boiling water poured on by degrees and the pot covered between pours, served at once over cut sugar and cream: drip coffee from the 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.
Gower’s Metheglin, a Herb Mead of 1669
Honey stirred into a decoction of rosemary, bay, thyme and marjoram, boiled slowly, skimmed clear and fermented: Sir Thomas Gower’s pale metheglin from Digby’s 1669 book, at about 8% ABV.
Gower’s Ordinary Drink, Small Ale and Honey
A very small ale with a gallon of honey to every eight, worked with yeast and left three months: Sir Thomas Gower’s everyday drink from Digby’s 1669 book, at about 8% ABV.
Always alcohol-freeLemon Whey, Hot Milk Turned with Lemon Juice
Boiling milk turned with lemon juice, the clear whey poured off the curd and thinned with hot water and a little sugar: the alcohol-free sickroom whey from Maria Rundell’s 1806 cookbook.
Always alcohol-freeMilk Porridge, a Strained Oat Gruel with Milk
Oats boiled long into a fine gruel, strained, and let down with cold or warm milk, with toast on the side: Maria Rundell’s milk porridge from the sickroom chapter of her 1806 cookbook.
Sherry Cobbler, the 1862 Bar Recipe
Two wine-glasses of sherry, a tablespoon of sugar and slices of orange, shaken in a tumbler of shaved ice and finished with berries and a straw: Jerry Thomas’s Sherry Cobbler of 1862.
Sherry Cocktail, Sherry with Maraschino and Bitters
A wine glass of sherry stirred on shaved ice with bitters and a dash of maraschino, strained, with a cherry and a squeeze of lemon peel: Harry Johnson’s Sherry Cocktail of 1900.
Sparkling Champagne Cider, Terrington’s Sweetened Hard Cider
Sparkling hard cider sweetened with a little syrup, poured into a tall glass and drunk at once: a safe modern take on Terrington’s 1869 barrel of cider gassed with tartaric acid and bicarbonate.
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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.