Ginger Beer - Old and New Methods of Manufacture - Lemonade -Chemicals in Non-alcoholic Drinks - Fruit Syrups - Non-alcoholic Cordials and Liquors - Natural Mineral Waters -Their Constituents - Artificial Aerated Waters - Their Introduction into England - Manufacture.

Popular among non-intoxicant drinks is the homely Ginger Beer, so dearly beloved of thirsty holiday makers and small children; dear also to the boating man in connection with good ale, as "Shandygaff." And the stone bottle, in which it used generally to be encased, is familiar to every reader. We say, advisedly, used, because now-a-days it is also put up in glass bottles; nay, it is sold in casks, like beer, to the publicans and others. The probability is that, in the old days, its somewhat murky colour would not bear inspection through bright glass. The old ginger beer, whose flavour cannot be approached by the modern decoctions, was made of Jamaica ginger macerated in water, with the addition of lemon juice and sugar. It was allowed to ferment, and possessed decided traces of alcohol. It was made after this fashion:

Take 1 ounce of best Jamaica ginger, and crush thoroughly with a hammer or suitable crushing machine; boil gently for about an hour in about a quart of water, then add 1 lb. of best loaf sugar, and make up to a gallon with hot water; stir until all is dissolved. Add a small quantity of the soluble essence of lemon, and gum extract, the quantity to be regulated to taste of the maker. Then stir in \ ounce of tartaric acid, and, if required for quick fermentation, a very small quantity of yeast. The beer should fine down perfectly clear, and should then be bottled. In from one to three weeks time it is ready for drinking, and should keep good about six months.

This was the old fashion - now for the new.1 First incorporate the lemon oil with 1 quart of the thick syrup. (If the oil contains a large proportion of insoluble matter, it may be well to use rather less than 1 quart of syrup in the first place.) Then add the boiling water, and, after that, the remaining syrup; taking care to keep the mixture constantly agitated during the process.

Lastly, add the acid, and ginger tincture according to taste, or the requirements of the public analyst.

1 The Mineral Water Maker's Manual for 1866, from which many receipts are taken with thanks.

Use 1 to 1 1/2 ounce of the flavoured spirit to each bottle.

2 Twaddeil's Hydrometer. From 11 to 12 lbs. sugar to the gallon should give something near this specific gravity.

3 A sufficient quantity.

By adding boiling syrup instead of boiling water to the mixture of plain syrup and oil of lemon, and subsequently adding the required quantity of cold water, the whole operation will be brought more thoroughly under control, and a larger proportion of oil may be employed without waste. With some samples of the oil, it may be necessary to heat a larger portion of the syrup; but the oil should always be mixed with cold, thick syrup in the first place, unless a perfectly close, air-tight vessel is provided for mixing; in this case, hot, thick syrup may be poured on the oil, cold water being subsequently added to give the requisite density.

When it is required to incorporate a maximum quantity of lemon oil with the syrup, it should first be whisked [into the whole of the thick syrup cold; the flavoured syrup should then be carefully heated by means of a steam jacket, or other convenient arrangement, until the suspended oil is reduced to a state of solution. The syrup will then be transparent. Let it be cooled again as quickly as possible, thing naughty, or at all events, placing himself on the very verge of tampering with the accursed thing "Beer." Hence its name, but what a difference in the two drinks ! Here are two receipts for making.

Use 1 to 1 1/2 ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.

Ginger Ale is a beverage supposed to beguile the artless teetotaller into an idea that he is doing something naughty, or at all events, placing himself on the very verge of tampering with the accursed thing "Beer." Hence its name, but what a difference in the two drinks ! Here are two receipts for making.

1 About 8 1/2 lbs. loaf sugar to the gallon of water should produce this S. G.

Or

Use 1 to 1 1/2 ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.

If desired, the bouquet may be enriched by the use of one or more of the following ingredients:

Half an ounce of Spanish liquorice to the gallon will considerably improve the flavour.

Use 1 1/2 ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.7when lemonade is required specially for medicinal purposes, and is sold expressly as a genuine fruit preparation, citric acid should be employed instead of acetic. In that case dissolve 1 lb. of citric acid in a pint of boiling water, and use 4 fluid ounces of the clear solution to each gallon of syrup.

Some manufacturers have attained a high reputation for their lemonade by adding a small quantity of Neroli1 to the ordinary syrup. This, if judiciously used, will doubtless be deemed an improvement by connoisseurs generally, provided they are kept in ignorance of the substance employed; but a still greater improvement is produced by adding about 1 fluid ounce of good orange flower water to each gallon of syrup,

In the next beverage we are perilously tempting the fiend Alcohol, although it ranks as a Temperance drink.

Use 1 to 1 1/2 fluid ounces of this syrup to each bottle.

But here is a direction which plainly shows the cloven hoof.

"The Ethyl and Amyl compounds are conveniently used by mixing them separately in the first place with nine times their bulk of Alcohol, or strong rectified spirit, adding these mixtures to the Acetic Acid, and this in turn to the syrup."