1892 Drinks of the world

DRINKS.

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The soberest head doth once a day stand needful of a guideio If he to banquet bid his friends, he will not shriiiic On them at dinner to bestow a dozen kinds of driji]^, Such liquor as they have, and as the couptry g^ives;; But chiefly two, one called kwas, whereby the Mousike lives Small ware and waterlike, but somewhat tart in trtste The rest is me^id, of honey made, wherewith their lips they baste," Stopes is of opinion thai the finest cider is made, n6t in the west, as has been commonly asserted, but in the east of England. This authority seems particularly to favour the Ribston pippins of Norfolk. '* Worcester," says Macaulay, in his History of England, ch. iii., '' is the queen of the cider land ; but Oevon and Somerset, Gloucester and Norfolk, might dispute the title. To make good cider the apples should "be quite ripe, as the amount of sugar in ripe apples is iro; in unripe apples, 4*9; in over-ripe apples, 7*95. The fermentation should proceed slowly. Brande says that the strongest cider contains, in 100 volumes, 9*87 of alcohol of 92 per cent ; the weakest, 5*21. By distillation, cider produces a good spirit; but it is seldom converted to that purpose in consequence of its acidity, which, however, is greatly remedied by rectification. Much cider is distilled in Normandy, and sent to this country under the name of arrack^ or some other foreign spirit, according to its fiavour. To the Nor- mans the invention of this liquor has been attributed. They are also said to have received it from the Moors, Whitaker {Hist. Manchester, i. 321) says this drink was introduced into this country by the Romans ; and H