[Sca-cooks] 16th C non-alcoholic drinks?

[Katherine Throckmorton]

Urtatim wrote:
> Can anyone recommend sources for 16th century non-alcoholic
> beverages? I'm not a brewer and won't be making ale or cider between
> now and then.

To the best of my knowledge there isn't a whole lot out there.  There is the hydromel  from the _Kog Bog_, which is Danish.  The book was published in 1616, so the recipie is just slightly OOP.  Other than that the only things that come to mind is some stuff from the _Domestoii_,a 16th century Muscovoy text, which basically involves cooking the alcohol out of mead and then adding fruit juice.  I can type in the _Domestoii_ information if you are interested.  In the meantime here is the one from the _Kog Bog_:

White mead to make that will be used soon  
Take one measure white honey and eight measures fresh spring water. Let this seethe together 4 hours and scum it well. You must not make it too thick. Let it then stand to cool. Thereafter sieve it through a Lutendrancks bag [straining bag] with herbs, cinnamon, cardamom, cubeb, galingale, grains of paradise, ginger, long pepper and cloves.
My redaction:
1 cup honey
12 cups water
1 stick cinnamon in pieces
3 whole cardomons
3-5 cloves
1 inch piece peeled fresh or whole dry ginger
2-3 grains of paradise
Simmer honey and water for 4 hours adding more water if it starts to become thick.  Remove from heat, add spices and strain immediately.  Let cool and serve.
Notes: I use more water than the original recipe as so as to make a less sweet drink. I haven’t been able to find long pepper or galingale so my redaction doesn’t include them.  This should be drunk soon after being made, after a couple of days it can start to ferment.  If you wish to store it, it can be refrigerated for 2-3 days



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