260. English Elder Brandy

Squeeze the juice of a large quantity of elderberries through a cloth; boil up with sugar and some cloves; let it get cool; add to each twenty quarts of juice two quarts of cognac, and keep it in the cellar.

261. Red English Ratafia

Four pounds of ripe, red cherries, two pounds of blackberries, three pounds of gooseberries, three pounds of raspberries, three pounds of red currants, are mashed with a wooden masher in a big earthen jug; mash in another pot one-sixteenth ounce of cloves, one-sixteenth ounce of mace, half an ounce of cinnamon, one-third ounce of coriander, one-eighth ounce of fennel, one-sixteenth ounce of Jamaica pepper, the pits of twelve apricots, the pits of twenty sour cherries, and six bitter almonds; mix the two mashes well; add two and a half quarts of sugar syrup, fill all into a large jug, close with a skin, and place it a fortnight near the stove. Then filter the juice through a linen bag, squeeze the remnants well; add one quart of best brandy to each quart of juice; place the mixture again for a fortnight near the stove; filter and bottle.

262. French Ratafia Aux Quatre Fruits

Mash ten pounds of sour cherries, eight pounds of red and two pounds of black currants, and ten pounds of raspberries; let them stand for a few days in the cellar; squeeze the juice, add the same quantity of cognac, and to each quart of the mixture one-fourth pound of refined sugar; mix all well; let the ratafia stand for a week at least; filter and bottle.

263. Another

Mix one quart of fresh raspberry-juice, one quart of cherry-juice, one quart each of the juice of red and black currants; to each quart of juice add three quarts of cognac, seven ounces of broken lump-sugar, three cloves; expose the mixture in a, large glass bottle to the sunlight until it is absolutely clear; filter and bottle.

264. Gin

A very strong liquor manufactured in Holland (Holland gin), and England (Old Tom gin), which is distilled from juniperus berries, and is used mainly by sailors as a warming beverage, and is good for the stomach, and against scurvy. In Schiedam, Delft and Rotterdam, gin is manufactured in large quantities; in Schiedam there are more than 300 distilleries.

265. Ginger Cordial

In a large, wide-necked bottle place one and a half ounces of pulverized ginger; infuse this in a quart of cognac, well corked, for from two to three days; stir now and then; strain through a flannel, and add a syrup of one pound of sugar cleared and refined in one gill of water; filter again; cork well.

The English often add to the pulverized ginger one pound of mashed black or white currants that secures a very delicious taste.

266. Gingerette

One pound of very ripe black currants are cleaned from their stalks, and infused with one quart of gin, and the rind of a thinly peeled lemon three days in a well-corked bottle; strain the liquor into another bottle; add half an ounce of pulverized ginger, and one pound of granulated sugar; place the bottle in a sunny spot; shake it daily; strain the liquor once more into smaller bottles, cork well, and let them lie for a while before using.