1892 Drinks of the world

DRINKS.

126

As a rule, the large firms do not distil the brandy they sell, but leave that operation to the small farmers round about, and then blend their products ; as, to produce the quantity they sell, enormous distilling space would be necessary, wine only producing one- eighth or one-tenth of alcohol to its bulk. The farmer's distillery is very primitive ; merely a simple boiler with a head or receiver, and a worm surrounded with cold water. There are generally two of these stills at work, and when once the farmer commences making his brandy, he keeps on day and night, bivouacking near the stills, until he has converted all his wine into crude spirit, as colourless as water, which he carts off, just as it is, to the brandy factory for vSale. There it is tasted, measured, and put into new casks of oak, hooped round with chestnut wood. These casks are branded with the date, together with the quality and place of growth of the wine from which the brandy was distilled, and they remain some time in stock before their contents are blended in the pro- portions which the firm deem suitable. This new spirit is housed on a floor over large vats, which are filled from selected casks, the spirit being filtered through flannel discs on its way. This mixes the various growths pretty well, but the spirit is run paste-board. When it gets to the second series of vats, it is kept well stirred, to prevent the heavier spirit sinking to the bottom. It is then drawn off into casks, which are .bunged up, and stored for several years that the into other vats, being forced through filters of a peculiar kind of paper, almost like