COOL DRINKS FOR THE THIRSTY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 87, 21 February 1941, Page 45

COOL DRINKS FOR THE THIRSTY

NDOOR men and women get thirsty in the hot weather, as well as those who work outside; and there are many more outdoor ones than usual this year, who will find that their unaccustomed and healthy work gives them an extra thirst. So here are several sensible recipes for long, cool drinks: Exellent Hop Ale Boil together 10 gallons of water and 1lb. of the best hops, for an hour. Add 8lb. of sugar, and boil another hour. Add 5lb. of malt extract. Stir till thoroughly dissolved and transfer to cask. When blood heat, add % pint baker’s yeast, or half a tablet of compressed yeast. Leave for several days, skimming every morning. When finished working. which will be six or seven days, add 1 packet of isinglass thoroughly dissolved in boiling water, and cooled. You could use instead of isinglass 1 bottle of brewer’s finings, following the instructions on the bottle. Then stir slightly, leave from 24 to 48 hours, and then bottle, adding 1% saltspoon of sugar to each large bottle. It will be ready in about a week, but is better if kept longer. Excellent Lemonade One kerosene tin of cold water, 1 packet of good seeded raisins, 8 breakfast cups of sugar; and 6 good lemons. Stir in the sugar to the cold water. Cut the lemons in thin slices and add with the raisins. Stir daily with a clean wooden stick or long-handled wooden spoon for four days, then strain and bottle. Leave for three or four days before using. It makes about 24 ale bottles; and the clip-on caps are best, if you can get them, otherwise tie the corks very tightly, as it becomes very brisk. In hot weather, it requires opening carefully. This recipe, which was sent from Cashmere, Christchurch, is equal to the best lemonade. Rhubarb Lemonade Wash about a dozen good sticks of rhubarb. Cut them up, and cook for 15 minutes in 3 pints of water. Mix well in a large jug one large cup of. sugar, the rind of two lemons and the juice of 1 lemon. Strain the liquid from the rhubarb over the lemons and sugar. Set on ice till chilled, and serve with a slight dusting of nutmeg. Ginger Pop Put 3lb. sugar, the juice of four) lemons, and 2o0z. of whole ginger (well bruised) into a vessel, and pour on two gallons of boiling water. Stir well, and leave to stand overnight. Strain the next day, and bottle. Cork very tightly. Ready in 6 days. No yeast required. Lemon Syrup Six lemons, 412lb. sugar, 2 packets Epsom salts, 2oz, tartaric acid, loz.

citric acid, and 4 pints of boiling water. Dissolve the sugar in boiling water, add salts, tartaric acid and citric acid. Stir till all are dissolved, then add lemon juice, and a little grated rind is an improvement. Bottle. To use, put a little in the bottom of a glass, and fill up with water, or soda water. Ginger Beer Use 1 quart preserving jar with a rubber ring and a good fitting screw top lid. For the first time only, to start the plant, take 1 tablespoon of ground ginger and % cup of sugar. Dissolve the sugar in hot water, and mix with the ginger. Place in the jar, cut a clean lemon, and slice half of it into the jar. Then fill up the jar with cold water, screw the lid on tightly, set aside in a cool place. Leave about two days, then strain the beer off through double butter muslin, and bottle. Return the grounds to the jar. Now a fresh lot of beer is made each day, and the quantities to be used now are 1 teaspoon of ginger, 1% cup of sugar, and another half lemon sliced. Use the same method, but leave it only till the next day. The strained off beer is ready to drink at once. When the beer gets too "hot," give some of the grounds away as a starter, or throw it away. If lemons are scarce, use ¥2 teaspoon cream of tartar. This is a cheap old-fashioned drink.

Apple Cider Slice enough apples unpeeled and uncored to quarter-fill a two-gallon vessel, and cover with two cups of water. Simmer a generous handful of compressed hops in 1 quart of water for twenty minutes, Then pour it over the apples. Fill up the vessel with boiling water, cover with fine muslin, and leave for twenty-four hours. Strain and _ then bottle, adding a raisin to each bottle, and tie the corks on firmly. The cider should be ready for use in 24 hours after bottling. If the weather is cool, stand a little longer.