SC - Liqueurs

[Mark Harris]

Earlier today, Tuesday, June 10, Gunthar asks:

>I'm thinking of making up some rose and lilac liqueurs for gifts and as an
A&S 
>entry.  I don't think they are period but I was wondering if there were
similar
>things and if anyone knows when liqueurs began.

Below I have pasted two messages from my cordials-msg file from when the
same question came up several years ago on the Rialto.

Perhaps Katerine (once known as Angharad ver' Rhuawn) could tell us if she
has found additional info since this four year old message.

Stefan li Rous
markh at risc.sps.mot.com

=============================
From: jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Spices and Distillation (was Re: Surprise! Surprise!)
Date: 20 Jul 93 04:51:53 GMT

Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.

In response to Ranvaig's query, Andy Trembley recently wrote,

>Distillation as "distillation of spirits" has been in discussion for the
>last few weeks as of yet with no real conclusion as to whether it was period
>(tho the 'nays' have more support due to the lack of reliable information to
>support the 'yeas'). 

I may be partly responsible for this impression, so I thought I should
clarify what I have found.

In the fifth collection in _Curye on Inglysch_, which Hieatt calls "Goud
Kokery", there is a 14th C recipe for distilling aqua vite from the lees of
strong wine, which seems to produce something that would appear to be a
heavily spiced (and probably rather weak, given the methods described)
brandy.  So some form of such distilling is unmistakably period.

What is unclear is whether anyone ever used the result as a beverage,
i.e. drank it straight, either to quench thirst, to enjoy the flavor,
or to get drunk.  The closest I have to an indication of such a use is 
that it is used sparingly as an ingredient in some recipes for making
spiced wines or ales (amazingly enough, these recipes tend to indicate
amounts).

This seems to be true through the early 17th C, at least according to 
what I have found.  Hugh Platt has a recipe for distilling "true spirits
of wine", which again produces a stronger alcohol than brewing provides.
But again, there is no indication that it was drunk; and all the other
recipes in his section on distilling are for things like rosewater, or
for things you apply externally.

I have not seen it myself, but understand that there is sound evidence
that some distilled beverages of enhanced alcoholic content were used
as medicinals (I'd love some non-urban-legend real-life references here,
BTW), and it is very likely true.  Surely some of the alchemists thought
they might be useful that way.  But there's a huge gap, even today, between
Cognac and Robitussin.  The first is a beverage.  The second isn't.  The
question is whether distilled alcohols in Europe in period were only
ingredients or medicinals, or whether they were also sometimes beverages.

I hope this is a bit clearer.

Cheers,
- -- Angharad/Terry


From: boyko at skyfox
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: RE: Spices and Distillation (was Re: Surprise! Surprise!)
Date: 21 JUL 93 01:31:35 GMT
Organization: University of Saskatchewan

    greetings unto the rialto from laghamon vavasour
angharad makes reference to searching for documentation of distilled
spirits as medicinals.
    when writing an essay on 16th century science a couple years ago,
I ran across a citation from M. Boas _The Scientific Renaissance_. On
page 161, she makes reference to a certain Michael von Shrick who wrote
a book on distilling liquors in 1478 and suggested the use of such
liquors as brandy for medicinal purposes. It is a slender leg to stand on,
but it might be worth using as leverage
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