1903 The Flowing Bowl by Edward Spencer

CORDIALS AND LIQUEURS 193 white sugar-candy; draw it ofF till it begins to be sowre, save a pint of the first running to mix with other waters on an extraordinary occasion; mix the rest together to drink by itself. Take five or six spoonfuls at a time. As Hamlet observes, on a memorable occasion : " Oh, horrible, horrible, most horrible ! " Curaft oa is not only the best known of all liqueurs, but the most wholesome. It will blend equally well with brandy and whisky. The best, in fact the original brand, is made in Amsterdam, with the peel of a very rare orange which grows in the island of Cura^oa, and falls from the tree before it is ripe. The peel of this is dried, and is known in the trade as the Curaq:oa of Holland, to distinguish it from other Cura^oas which have not the same property, although they are often sold in place of it. The Dutch distillers naturally keep their process a secret, but the French imitators declare that the Dutch secret is merely as follows : that five kilogrammes of dried peel of the Cura^oa of Holland and the zests of eighty fresh oranges are submitted to the action of sixty litres of alcohol (85 degrees, French measure ment), and that, save in the colour, there is no real difference between white Cura9oas and brown. At all events either is very useful in a cocktail, or swizzle ; and there are many restora tive compounds, or " tonics " as they are called, into which the liqueur enters.