The name of liqueurs is given to preparations composed of spirits of wine, brandy, sugar, and the extracts of certain substances more or less aromatic. The desired result is obtained either by distillation or by infusion. Infused liqueurs are called ratafias. Elixirs are certain wholesome or therapeutic liquors, taken only by spoonfuls. Ratafias are as old as the time of Louis XII., contemporary with Henry VII.; and elixirs were known antecedent to the time of Charles VII., contemporary with our Henry VI. The most renowned foreign liqueurs are the alkermes of Florence, the rossolis or rosoglio of Bologna, the barbados and the tarlufolgio of Turin; the citronelle of Venice, the cinamonium of Trieste, the maraschino of Zara, the krambambouli of Dalmatia, the absinthe of Switzerland, the kirschen wasser of the Black Forest, the persicot of Treves, the kumin Dantzic, the double anisette and the white curaçoa of Amsterdam, the tafià of the Isle of France, the blanc rack of Batavia, the old rum of Jamaica, the noyau of Martinique, the white vanilla of St. Domingo, the eau des créoles of Martinique, and the mirobolan of Madame Anfoux. The fine or distilled liqueurs fabricated in France are, les crêmes de thé, de menthe, de canelle, d’orange, and the eau angelique. Most of these are made at Montpelier, but all of them can be obtained at Tanrades’, in Paris, who is himself the proprietor and distiller of the crême d’ananas, and the petit lait d’Henry IV. Ratafias are, for the most part, made in the provinces. Thus Verdun is famous for its persicot, Phalsburg for its noyau, Lyons for its absinthe, Grenoble for its wild cherry ratafia, Hieres for its five fruited ratafia, and Orleans for its quince ratafia. Few of these, however, are known in England, where the principal liqueurs used are noyau, curaçoa, cherry-brandy, and cognac. Of these I should say the three last were the wholesomest and most stomachic. Nothing can exceed, indeed can equal, cognac for a liqueur, if it be old and genuine. A liqueriste, or a distillateur, is a distinct trade in France from a limonadier. These distillateurs composed their beverages for the most part from brandy or spirits of wine, aromatised by the infusion of spices, flowers, honey, fruits, &c. Cubebs, cinnamon, cloves, grains of paradise, liquorice, sweetened and flavoured with rose-water, pomegranate juice, and sugar, were the component parts of the earliest liqueurs which appeared in Europe, with the exception of the eau d’or, or aqua aurea, which Arnaud de Villeneuve describes as brandy, in which was infused or macerated rosemary flowers, with spices and colours to flavour it. When golden elixirs became rife, somewhat later, the public desired that the eau d’or should really contain gold; and hence the custom of putting some goldbeater’s leaf, cut up into small pieces, into the infusion. The eau de vie de Dantzic, of which a considerable portion is consumed in Paris, is prepared in this fashion.
Liqueurs, though known a considerable time previously, were first greatly sought for in France at the period when Catherine de Medicis, in 1533, came to wed the dauphin son of Francis I. The Italians whom she brought in her suite, and the creatures of that nation who flocked in crowds to France when she became queen, greatly introduced the use of liqueurs, which had been heretofore common in Italy. The nascent taste for them grew gradually into a passion; and in 1604, Sully, in examining the objects of luxury which cost the French most, particularises festins and liqueurs. The populo and the rossolis were, about two centuries ago, the most popular of liqueurs. The former was made with spirits of wine, water, sugar, musk, amber, essence of aniseed, essence of cinnamon, &c. The rossolis took its name from the plant ros solis, which was one of its ingredients. Among foreign rossolis, that of Turin was the most celebrated. The liquor, writes Patin, in 1653, in one of those letters, half French, half Latin, which he was in the habit of inditing,—the liquor called rossolis “nihil habet solare, sed igneum quid potentissimum, lumborum renum, que doloribus adversissimum.” At this period, all liqueurs were considered unpardonable luxuries, if not sinful. Madame Théanges, who had been a gay demirep in her day, at length became devout. Madame de Sévigné, writing in 1674, says:—“Elle (meaning Madame de Théanges) est souvent avec Madame de Longueville et tout à fait dans le bel air de la dévotion; mais elle est toujours de très bonne compagnie et n’est pas solitaire. J’étois l’autre jour auprès d’elle à diner. Un laquais lui présenta un grand verre de vin de liqueur; elle me dit, Madame, ce garçon ne sait pas que je suis dévote.” And Madame de Sévigné archly adds, “Cela nous fit rire.”
Well, indeed, might the company laugh, though the proper rebuke would have been to answer, in the words of Shakespeare, “Think’st thou, because thou art virtuous, we shall have no more cakes and ale? Ay, by St. Anne! and ginger shall be hot in the mouth, too.”
The first manufactory of liqueurs in France which had a remarkable success, was a fabric established at Montpelier.
In 1704, when Louis XIV. suppressed the community of limonadiers, establishing in their stead 150 privileged persons, an ordonnance pointed out what liqueurs it was lawful to sell. These were la fenouillette, le Vatté, l’orange, Cette, Genièvre, and millefleures. The first fabric of liqueurs which had any extensive renown was that of Montpelier. It may be well imagined that a city which had so long been celebrated as a school of medicine had eminent chymists and distillateurs; but, when these acquired a renown as liquorists, they reposed on their success, became careless, and in the end were justly supplanted by others. Lorraine succeeded to the renown of the Mons Puellarum, or Montpelier. This was chiefly owing to the decoction of one Solmini, probably an Italian, who, about a century ago, pretended to have invented a liqueur which he called parfait amour. This, however, was no new invention at all; it was but ratafias of fruits and nuts, the eau de cédrat of the Sieur la Faveur of Montpelier, which this worthy had disguised by giving it a red tinge by means of cochineal. The brothers Bosserrant succeeded Solmini, producing a cheap and inferior article, which had for a season a vogue. But the imposition was soon found out, and the reputation of the brothers was lost as speedily as it was acquired. In the country parts of France most of the grocers sold, and still sell, ratafias fabricated by themselves; but they are, one and all, poor stuff. At Beaumont and Neuilly, in the environs of Paris, were two ratafia makers who had great success. The Neuilly man made a considerable fortune and built a country house, in which he caused to be engraved this inscription, “Ex liquido solidum.” This is almost as good as the Irish distiller who made a large fortune by smuggling, and built a magnificent house which he called “Sans souci.” A brother in the trade, who had been less fortunate because more honest, built a small modest box nearly opposite, which he called “Sans six sous.” To return, however, to ratafias. These are certainly the liqueurs which are preferably adopted in all ménages bourgeois, because, being but infusions of flowers or fruits, they are the cheapest and the most easily made. The most popular ratafia in France is the black currant, a renown which it owes in a great measure to the praises bestowed on it by Lémery,[25] who thus speaks of it:—
“C’est un élixir très excellent, et très propre à entretenir la santé. Il est très bon pour les hydropiques dissout les pierres, fait sortir le gravier, guérit toutes les fièvres tierces, quartres, continues. Il presérve du vomissement sur la mer, et du scorbut de la bouche. Il fait sortir la petite vérole, la rougeole, le pourpre, et toutes les maladies contagieuses. Il prévient la goutte, et purifie merveilleusement le sang; c’est un antidote contre tous les poisons et piqûres de bêtes vénimeuses. Il est bon pour les coliques, les dyssenteries, les maux et duretés de la rate. Il fortifie l’estomac, chasse les vents, réjouit le cerveau, guérit les migraines et les maux de tête. Il est bon pour toutes les maladies des femmes, même en couche. Il facilitte l’accouchement. Quand on en use habituellement, on n’a presque rien à craindre de l’apoplexie ni de la paralysie. Il n’y a point de maladie qu’il ne soulage ni ne prévienne. Son effet dans les plaies est plus prompt que celui du baume du Pérou. On en a donné à des chevaux très malades, qui ont été guéris en très peu de temps,” &c.
Although the French of the metropolis are now somewhat disenchanted of their passion for black currant ratafia, yet it maintains its popularity in the provinces.
The liqueurs of the French West India Islands obtained a great renown in the last century. These liqueurs were strong and ardent, and required to be kept a long time before they were generally used. One of the most renowned makers of these liqueurs was the widow Anfoux of Martinique, who ultimately came to Paris. It was plain, however, that it was “distance” that “lent enchantment” to her distilling; for no sooner had she settled in the Rue Montmartre, than her decoctions, infusions, and brewings, began to pall on the taste of the Parisians. Before the first French Revolution, liqueurs were divided into two classes. The first might be called essences; they bore the name of oily liqueurs, for they were, in fact, thick and oily: the second class were, in opposition to those, called dry. The inventor of the oily liqueurs was a Doctor Sigogne, who, by the application of boiled sugar and saffron, sought to render the liqueurs which he produced more soft, velvety, and unctuous. In this he perfectly succeeded, and subsequently hit upon the happy name for his brewing of l’huile de Vénus. This liqueur had a prodigious success; some notions of which may be formed from the fact that, after the death of the inventor, small packages of it were sold at private sales at the rate of three and four louis a pint. The first distillateur liquoriste who acquired a reputation in Paris was Le Lièvre, then La Serre, and afterwards a Sieur Omfroi.
The most renowned liqueur of our West India Islands was the eau des Barbades. A very small bottle of this used to sell for a louis d’or; but the price, as well as the fiery nature of the article, caused it to sink in public favour.
The Dutch invented cinnamon water, crême de girofle, and crême de canelle, when they were the exclusive possessors of the Spice Islands, and also curaςao, which is now produced in great quantities in Luxembourg (previously to the Belgian Revolution of 1830 a Dutch town) and Amsterdam. The crême de girofle is a delightful liqueur, and is said by a writer in the “Magazine of Domestic Economy” to be excellent for singers when suffering under relaxation of the throat. It is made by adding forty drops of oil of cloves to a quart of spirits of wine and a quart of syrup, with as much of red colouring matter as will impart a good colour. Crême de canelle is also an agreeable liqueur, and beneficial to the dyspeptic by warming the stomach, and giving increased action to that organ.
Curaςoa is one of the very best of liqueurs. The finest is made at Luxembourg and Amsterdam; but, if the frugal housekeeper cannot afford the expense of the genuine article, he may resort to a receipt contained in the second volume of the “Magazine of Domestic Economy.”
The tincture and pod of vanilla is much used in France in flavouring as well as colouring liqueurs. The crême de vanille is not an unpleasant cordial, and is stomachic, and slightly stimulant.
Ireland invented that horrid burning beverage called scubac, shubach, or usquebaugh. This liqueur, called usquebaugh, or schubagh, had its birth in the sweet, clean, neat little town of Drog-h[=e]-da; or, as it was called in the time of Cromwell, Tredagh.
Schubagh is a decoction of barley, tinged with an infusion of saffron, sweetened with sugar, to which is added spirits of wine to give it strength. It is the strongest and most fiery of cordials, and is only fit for a Gueber. Schubagh was early counterfeited in France, and the counterfeit may, by a species of contradiction, be said to have surpassed the original. Many new ingredients were added, as mace, cloves, cinnamon, jujubes, aniseed, juniper-leaves, &c.; but, notwithstanding this addition and improvement, this beverage never became a favourite in Paris, though it had subsequently some repute at Copenhagen, Stockholm, Revel, and Riga.
To Ireland we are also indebted for raspberry and black currant whiskey. A teaspoonful of either may be taken, but it should be kept ten years in bottle.
The eau cordiale of Colladon, a famous physician of Geneva, was composed of the essential oil of lemons, extracted by expression, rectified spirits of wine, sugar, and eau de mélisse. This liqueur is reported to have been the most salubrious and agreeable of any in the category; but the price of it was so excessive, even during the life of the inventor, that it was but little consumed.
The eau de vie d’Andaye is a pure and simple brandy; but the slight taste of fennel which is communicated to it in distillation, places it in the rank of liqueurs. It was in the month of September, 1837, that having crossed over the Bidassoa in a fordable part, running the risk of being mistaken by the Carlists for a Christino, that I sat down under the shadow of the town of Irun, and within view of Andaye itself, to eat of a Dutch cheese, a shallot, some cresses, and a crust of the beautifully white bread of Spain. I washed down this homely fare with a glass of the far-famed eau de vie d’Andaye, diluted with the water of a rill which ran ripplingly over the pebbles beneath my feet; and, whether from the exercise, the purity of the air, the tranquil stillness of the place—rendered more fearfully still by the reverberation of a stray shot in the distance—I thought the fare delicious, and relished the brandy as the most vinous and cordial drop I ever tasted. Mentioning this in the summer of the following year to a West India gentleman, my late lamented friend, Mr. James MacMahon, in the Quarry Walk of Shrewsbury, and who was a great gourmet, though a point-blank realist and matter-of-fact man, he replied, “There’s no delusion in it; and neither the air, the scenery, nor the exercise, had anything to do with the matter. It is the pure quality and excellence of the brandy alone that gave to the beverage so intense a relish, as I shall prove to you. A week ago I dined with Earl Talbot at Ingestrie. There was a large party; it was a diner d’apparat, with turtle, venison, and all the delicacies of the season. Half-a-dozen liqueurs were produced; but last of all some eau de vie d’Andaye, which the host declared had been in the cellar since 1796, a period of forty-two years. Now it was nine o’clock when this was produced, and my taste was somewhat palled from the multitude of good things, both solids and fluids, of which I had tasted; yet, whether from age or frequent rectification, I never tasted anything so delicious, so that your theory falls to the ground.”
In the island of Ré, it is said, brandy is prepared exactly by the same process as at Andaye; but, though I have sailed by this island, it has never been my fate to taste of the produce of its distillation.
The eau de vie de Dantzic is simply brandy rectified, with the addition of aniseed and goldbeater’s leaf. This liqueur is not much used here, but it is in great request in Paris. The receipt for making it is as follows:—To one quart of spirits of wine, add twelve drops of oil of aniseed, six of oil of cinnamon, three of oil of roses, and eight of oil of citron; mix with it a quart of syrup, filter it, and, when bottling, mix with goldbeater’s leaf cut into little bits.
Maraschino is the produce of a wild cherry, common in the territory of Zara in Dalmatia. For a long succession of years the Dalmatians only made a species of cherry-wine of their fruit; but they afterwards extracted a brandy from them, and ultimately a liqueur, which was so perfect and popular, that before the first French Revolution the senate of Venice kept the sale of the precious beverage in its own hands. Some of the frontier French provinces of Alsace, Lorraine, and Dauphiné, endeavoured to extract from the same species of cherry a brandy called kirchwasser. With this they essayed, but in vain, to imitate the maraschino of Zara.
There are many ratafias, essences, waters, and syrups produced in France as liqueurs, such as ratafia d’angélique, de flore, de fleurs d’orange, de grenade, eau divine, cordiale du chasseur nuptiale, &c.; but it would be unjust not to mention the noyau, the anisette de Bordeaux, and the absinthe. The noyau is one of the most pleasing, but also one of the most pernicious liqueurs when taken to excess. It is chiefly made of the kernels of apricots and peaches, which contain a vast quantity of prussic acid. Orange-flower water and triturated vanille are also ingredients. A very small liqueur-glass of this cordial is a pleasing thing enough after fruit or coffee; but the portion taken should be small, nay, of the infiniment petits. There is a pink as well as a white noyau, but the latter is to be preferred.
Bordeaux is famous for its anisette; and this liqueur is not a bad carminative for gouty old men. The name of Marie Brissart, as a manufacturer of anisette, has attained a European reputation.
The absinthe is an excellent tonic and stomachic. It is an infusion of wormwood, and is an especially favourite liqueur with critics and reviewers, for its extreme bitterness is nearly akin to their own.
The English liqueurs are few. The cherry bounce of Hoffman and Son, of Bishopsgate Street Within, which used to sell at 8s. or 9s. the pint, was excellent, but the firm have made a fortune and retired. This beverage had an immense sale at Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta; but it is, if possible, still more popular up the Mofussil.
Rum ratafia, rum shrub, pine-apple rum, and brandy shrub, are all good things, but none of them are so excellent as Hoffman’s bounce.
It will be seen, from what I have stated, that all these liqueurs, with whatever fine names they may be decorated, have for their basis a mixture of brandy, sugar, and water, whose proportions vary according to the kind of liqueur which is to be prepared. Such aromatic accessories are added as are deemed most proper to flatter the taste and the smell; and the great talent of a liquouriste consists in the choice and admixture of these aromatics, and in the mingling together such fruits and flavours as fraternise most fully and cordially. The finest aroma in fruit and flower will not always suffice, however, to produce fine liqueurs. Some plants of exquisite natural odours produce in distillation indifferent liqueurs; others there are of not so odorous a smell, which form the happiest possible combinations. There are many, for instance, who do not like the aroma of the truffle, and the perfumer can make little of it, yet it furnishes a most agreeable ratafia. It must in candour be admitted that the French are our masters in the art of the liquouriste. They divide liqueurs into three classes,—ordinaires, fines, and surfines. The fine and superfine liqueurs are also known under the designation of crêmes and huiles. Oily liqueurs should be made thicker than creamy, and should pour out like olive oil. Such liqueurs as go under the names of crêmes are white, while the oily liqueurs should be of the colour of olive-oil. Our lively neighbours profit by every innocent artifice to give a greater vogue to their productions, and christen their cordials with the most taking—why should we not say with the most pocket-picking names? Thus we have the petit lait de Henri Quarte, l’eau des braves, l’huile de Vénus, le parfait amour, l’eau nuptiale, l’eau virginale, &c., the gouttes de Maltes of La Moine, and the liqueur impériale, and de Pomone of the same fabricant. Many of the liqueurs drunk both in England and France are exceedingly unwholesome; and should any one need a cordial or stimulant after dinner or with his coffee, I would in preference recommend a small glass of pure Cognac brandy; but this should be obtained from a trustworthy house, as the Cognac brandies are adulterated with Spanish or Bordeaux brandy of very inferior quality, with neutral-flavoured rum and rectified spirits. British brandy-bitters are used to fill up the flavour, but comparatively in small quantities, as it is exceedingly powerful. The adulterated brandy is usually composed of rectified spirits, cassia, carraways, chamomile-flowers, orange-peel, &c. Cherry-laurel water is also used to answer the same purpose as British brandy-bitters, and is, indeed, more frequently had recourse to, because the quantity of it applied does not prevent a trial of the strength of the brandy by the hydrometer. The qualities of laurel-water are poisonous and pernicious, and the extract of almond-cake, prepared by keeping a quantity of the cake for a long time in spirits of wine, is also a noxious ingredient. The almond-cake is used to impart to the adulterated brandy a taste resembling the kernel flavour which the genuine article possesses. The extract of capsicums and extract of grains of paradise, known in the trade by the name of the devil, are also frequently used. The extract of capsicums is made by putting a quantity of the small East India chilies into a bottle of spirits of wine, and keeping it closely stopped for a month. The same process is followed in reference to grains of paradise, and they are both used to impart an appearance of strength. They infuse into the spirit, a hot, pungent, fiery flavour, which no one of good taste—no one, indeed, whose organs of taste were not vitiated by a long indulgence in ardent spirits—would at all relish. Colouring of burnt sugar is also had recourse to, to deepen the colour of the brandy rendered too pale by the preceding mixtures, and it is further employed to answer the same end with rum. Saffron, mace, terra japonica, spirits of sweet nitre, and prunes, are used to improve the flavour of brandy, and new brandy is made to look like old by the addition of aqua ammoniæ.
On the German liqueurs I have not yet touched. The principal among these are the Pomeranzen, Wackholder, and the Kummel. The Pomeranzen is made by adding to a quart of spirits of wine ninety drops of oil of orange and a quart of the syrup.
The Wackholder is made by putting thirty drops of oil of juniper to a quart of spirits of wine, adding a quart of the syrup; and Kummel is prepared by adding to a quart of spirits of wine seventy drops of oil of carraways. After it has been shaken well, it should be filtered, and it will then be fit to bottle.
I have already intimated an opinion that the profuse, or indeed the frequent and moderate use of liqueurs is to be deprecated: but as an agreeable termination to a repast, or as a gentle stimulus, inducing the stomach to perform its functions more kindly, they may be used with advantage. They should, however, be taken rarely and sparingly, for the particular effect to be looked for is a gentle action of the stomach. The liqueur, whatever its nature, should be taken as in all foreign countries, as a chasse café, immediately after the small cup of strong coffee, and it should be sipped slowly, and allowed to linger on the palate.
Jean de Milon, a famous physician, who wrote in the seventeenth century, and addressed his aphorisms to a king of England, proclaimed in the following verses that nothing should be taken after coffee, so excellent was it, and for this reason he condemns liqueurs:—
But with all respect to so eminent an authority, the occasional use of a thimbleful of brandy bounce may be recommended after coffee as rather beneficial than otherwise, for most will agree with old Lémery[26] in thinking, “these liquors, being taken moderately, heat and fortify the stomach, help digestion, expel wind, allay the cholic, revive the spirits, promote the circulation of the blood, and recover strength.”
I have only to say, in conclusion, that the most famous liqueurs of France are fabricated at Blois, Grenoble, Langres, Montpelier, Nismes, Verdun, and Paris.