Brandy and soda

“ The constituents of pure brandy are alcohol and water, together with small quantities of a volatile oil, acetic acid, acetic ether, œnanthic ether, colouring matter, and tannin. It is from the presence of the two ethers that the spirit derives its characteristic smell and flavour. The amount of absolute alcohol in brandy varies from 45 to 55 per cent. When first imported it is generally 1 or 2 over-proof, but its strength decreases by age, and by the time it is taken from the bonded store for sale, it is seldom stronger than 3 or 4 under-proof. ”

“ When cold, bottle the liquid, and cork it tightly. The bottles for this purpose should either be quite new, or such as have been used before for lemon syrup. Mixed with ice-water it is a wholesome and refreshing beverage, and if you stir into a half tumbler of the mixture a half tea-spoonful, or more, of carbonate of soda, it will foam up, and be just like the soda-water you buy in the shops at six cents per glass. ”

“ The residue thus obtained, if genuine brandy, possesses a vinous odour, resembling the flavour of brandy, whilst the residue produced from sophisticated brandy, has a peculiarly disagreeable smell, resembling gin, or the breath of habitual drunkards. The purity of spirits may also be easily ascertained by setting fire to a little of the suspected article in a spoon, when, if they be unadulterated, they will all burn away, without leaving any moisture behind. ”

“ Many of the remarks made in regard to the ageing, flavouring and blending of wines equally apply to brandy, and need not be repeated in this place. When freshly distilled, it is colourless, its amber tint being either due to the casks in which it has been stored, or to added caramel. The normal constituents of genuine brandy are water, alcohol (including small amounts of butylic, propylic and amylic) , various ethers (acetic, oenanthic, butyric, and valerianic) , aldehyde, acetic and tannic acids, and traces of sugar and the oil of wine. ”

“ The mode of judging by the taste of spiritous liquors is deceitful. A false strength is given to a weak liquor, by infusing in it acrid vegetable substances, or by adding to it a tincture of grains of paradise and Guinea pepper. These substances impart to weak brandy or rum, an extremely hot and pungent taste.
Brandy and rum is also frequently sophisticated with British molasses, or sugar-spirit, coloured with burnt sugar. ”

“ However, it was well known that a vast magazine of the precious article surrounds us on every side. The sea is water changed to brine by a salt of soda. If only a plan could be contrived for separating this soda from the hydro-chloric acid, which makes it common salt, there is at our doors a depot large enough to form a Mont Blanc of pure soda. ”

“ F. C. Philips, in one of his novels, and consists of equal parts of brandy and chili vinegar in a large wine-glass. Such a mixture would, in all probability, corrode sheet-iron. I am afraid that writers of romance occasionally borrow a little from imagination.
The most effectual restorative for the total abstainer is unquestionably, old brandy. It should be remembered that a rich, heavy dinner is not bound to digest within the human frame, if washed down with tea, or aerated beverages. ”

“ So that from the bleacher who spends thousands-a-year on the carbonate, to the apprentice who in the dog-days lays out a penny on ginger-beer or soda-water, all are interested in the cheapness of soda. ”

“ The bi-carbonate of soda is obtained by passing carbonic acid gas over the carbonate crystals. Soda does not attract moisture from the air. It is used in washing, in glass manufactories, in dyeing, soap-making, etc.
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Sulphate of Soda is “Glauber’s Salt”; it is also employed in glass-making. Mixed with sulphuric acid and water, it forms a freezing mixture. Glass, as we have seen, is made with silicic acid (sand) , soda, potassa, oxide of lead, and lime, and is an artificial silicate of soda. ”

“ Cold water removes milk more quickly than hot, as hot water causes a coating of milk to adhere to the glass. Bicarbonate of soda not only hastens the cleansing process, but sweetens the bottle. Milk cans, pails and all milk containers are cleansed in the same manner, using more baking soda in greater quantities of water.
FIRE EXTINGUISHER. Arm & Hammer or Cow Brand Baking Soda is unsurpassed as a fire extinguisher. It not only smothers the fire, but generates carbonic acid gas which temporarily envelopes the flames, shuts off the air supply or oxygen, and so extinguishes the fire. ”

“ I had beer, and whisky, and some mint juleps, yes, and maybe a cocktail, and I think there was some more beer—yes, there was more beer, and I think likely that I had some brandy up there in that sick man’s room. For I seem to remember that I took a drink of brandy because it was goin’ to kill him if he drank it, and so I took it in his place. Yes, I must have had some brandy, sure, because nothin’ but brandy will set me up that way. Now, just look at that, Judge! Ain’t that a fine lay-out for a man to swallow that knows better? If I’d never been inside a saloon before there’d be some excuse. ”

“ Old “brown brandies,” which are nowadays not in great demand, require more caramel and sugar than do the pale varieties. The preparation of the “liqueur,” as the mixed caramel and sugar syrup is termed, is an operation requiring much experience, and the methods employed are kept strictly secret. Fine “liqueur” is prepared with high-class brandy, and is stored a number of years prior to use. ”

“ Know then that from the log on the fire, to the back of your chair, everything made of wood, is in pretty nearly the same predicament as your pocket-handkerchief; and if people are not in the habit of making casks of syrup and kegs of brandy out of the trees they cut down in the woods, it is only, I assure you, because such sugar and brandy would cost more to make than other sorts, and would not be so good in the end. Should some one ever invent and bring to perfection an economical process for doing it thoroughly well, sugar-makers and spirit-distillers will have to be on their guard! ”

“ Spirits can be distilled from any vegetable matter which will yield alcohol, yet many substances yield only a rasping, nauseous or flavorless liquor, which age does not improve. To some of these products, artificial flavors and color are given and the imitation articles are thus placed on the market. But true whiskey, brandy, etc., have a specific and original flavor of their own, and contain vegetable oils and acids. ”

“ When melted with flint or sand, it forms glass, and answers much better for this purpose than potash. In conjunction with oil and lime, it is employed in the manufacture of soap; and it is used as a substitute for soap in the cleaning and bleaching of linen, flannels, and worsted goods. If a weak solution of soda be poured into foul bottles, or casks in which wine has long been kept, it will cleanse them. It may also be successfully used for the cleansing of vessels in which milk has become acid. ”

“ Sherry is a strong wine used in flavoring food, such as puddings and sauces. A few teaspoonfuls of this wine will make a child drunk. The wines made at home from elderberries, blackberries, and cherries contain alcohol which will do just as much harm as that in the purchased wines.
How Brandy is Made.—Brandy contains more alcohol than wine and almost as much as whisky. In fact brandy is only very strong wine. After the yeast plants have formed as much alcohol as they can in grape juice it becomes so strong that it kills them. ”

“ An enormous quantity of sodium carbonate, or soda, as it is usually called, is needed in the manufacture of glass, soap, bleaching powders, and other commercial products. Formerly, the supply of soda was very limited because man was dependent upon natural deposits and upon ashes of sea plants for it. Common salt, sodium chloride, is abundant, and in 1775 a prize was offered to any one who would find a way to obtain soda from salt. ”

“ To a pint of syrup put half a pint of the best pale brandy you can get, which sweeten with fine sugar. If the brandy is dark-coloured, it will spoil the look of the fruit. The peaches should be well chosen, and they should have sufficient room in the glass jars. When the liquor wastes, supply the deficiency by adding more syrup and brandy. ”

“ The practice of smoking segars has, in every part of our country, been more followed by a general use of brandy and water as a common drink, more especially by that class of citizens who have not been in the habit of drinking wine or malt liquors." [65] "One of the greatest sots I ever knew," says the same author, "acquired a love for ardent spirits by swallowing cuds of tobacco, which he did to escape detection in the use of it; for he had contracted the habit of chewing, contrary to the advice and commands of his father. He died of a dropsy under my care, in the year 1780." ”

“ De-natured Alcohol and De-naturing Formulæ
The uses of alcohol are very numerous and varied, the principal being, of course, for the production of all alcoholic liquors such as brandy, gin, rum, whiskey, liquors, etc.; that distilled from grain is almost entirely consumed in the manufacture of whiskey, gin, and British brandy. In the arts, strong alcohol is employed by the perfumers and makers of essences for dissolving essential oils, soaps, etc., and for extracting the odor of flowers and plants ”

“ If you use the juice of lemon, add 1-1/2 lbs., of sugar to a pint; you do not need any tartaric acid with it; now use 2 or 3 tablespoonsful of syrup to 3/4 of a tumbler of water, and 1/3 teaspoonsful of supercarbonate of soda made fine, stir well and be ready to drink; the gum arabic, however, holds the carbonic acid so it will not fly off so readily as common soda. For soda fountains, 1 oz., of supercarbonate of soda is used to 1 gallon of water. for charged fountains no acids are needed in the syrups. ”

“ In fact, one or other of these substances, after having attacked the fat, would form a soap by separating the glycerine, and it was just this glycerine which the engineer wished to obtain. There was no want of lime, only treatment by lime would give calcareous soap, insoluble, and consequently useless, while treatment by soda would furnish, on the contrary, a soluble soap, which could be put to domestic use. Now, a practical man, like Cyrus Harding, would rather try to obtain soda. ”

“ Soda water, whiskey, beer, ginger ale, tea, coffee, and chocolate represent enormous industries, and probably all do more harm than they do good. Much inventive genius in the Nineteenth Century has been bestowed upon the soda water fountain, on stills, and processes for aging liquors and processes for brewing beer, on cider and wine presses, on bottling machines and bottle stoppers, on devices for carbonating waters, and in coffee and teapots. ”

“ This oil should be kept dissolved in alcohol, as it is otherwise apt to lose its flavour. Brandy from any part of the world may be very closely imitated by distilling the oil from the lees of the wines produced in that particular district. Where black tea is cheap, as in the United States of America, it is very commonly employed to impart the roughness of brandy to the coloured spirit, and the subsequent addition of a little ‘flavouring’ greatly improves it. ”

“ Of brandy, he found one gallon in one hundred pure; of wine, not a gallon in a thousand, but generally made of whiskey as a basis, with poisonous articles for condiments. Not a drop of Madeira wine had been made in that island since 1851. Some of the whiskey he inspected contained sulphuric acid enough in a quart to eat a hole through a man’s stomach.
MOTHER’S MILK PURE AND HEALTHY. MOTHER’S MILK AFTER DRINKING WHISKEY.
Brandy usually contains sulphuric acid. ”

“ Since I started in in January to make the children drink five glasses of Vanilla Cream soda every day as a matter of routine and duty, sixty per cent. of them have come to hate it. I think that by the end of the year we shall have stamped out the love of soda almost entirely. The same way with caramels and other candies in place of beef. We have caramels for breakfast, gum-drops for dinner and marshmallows for tea, regularly, and last night seventeen of the children presented a petition asking for beef steak, mutton chops and boiled rice. ”

“ He threw his half-smoked cigar away, and went through the other rooms to the balcony. I saw no reason for remaining, and went out after him. Caldwell turned off the gas in each room as he left it, and followed us.
We stopped at Whip's again on our way to the Mole. I have great doubt of either the need or benefit of brandy under ordinary circumstances. But
there's probably no fact more firmly established than the one of there always being some especial reason why a drink
should be taken. ”

“ Other brandy-merchants employ a spirit obtained from raisin wine, which is suffered to pass into an incipient ascescency. The spirit thus procured partakes strongly of the flavour which is characteristic to foreign brandy.
Oak saw-dust, and a spiritous tincture of raisin stones, are likewise used to impart to new brandy and rum a ripe taste, resembling brandy or rum long kept in oaken casks, and a somewhat oily consistence, so as to form a durable froth at its surface, when strongly agitated in a vial. The colouring substances are burnt sugar, or molasses ”

“ In treating leather with the 'fat liquor,' it is desirable to heat the liquor to or near the boiling-point, and it is preferred to use the same in connection with other ingredients. Thus, for instance, there may be added to each ten gallons of such heated fat liquor, eight ounces sal soda, twelve ounces common salt, one pint of soft soap, or an equivalent quantity of hard soap, four ounces of Venetian red ”