WARNING WARNING WARNING

The recipes below are a health hazard. If you make these recipes you
can be in danger of harming yourself, your family, relatives, friends
and loved ones.

DO NOT MAKE THESE RECIPES.

They are here for informatinal purposes ONLY!!!

The ingredient: bitter almonds, contains Prussic Acid or cyanide.
Cyanide is a deadly poison. If you are foolish or senseless about this
you could turn what should be a happy memory into a nightmare.

CURRANT WINE.

Three varieties of currants are employed in making wine white, red and
black; but the two first are most common. The wines from the white and
red sorts differ a little from each other in color, also in flavor.
With proper management they are capable of producing a wine analogous
to the lighter wines of the grape, according to Dr. MacColloch, "not
easy to be distinguished from the Colares of Portugal, which although
not in the first class, is certainly superior to most of our domestic
wines." A principal defect in currant wine, as commonly made, arises
from too small a quantity of the fruit being used, and of course too
much sugar and water. On this account, and from the imperfect
fermentation, these wines are usually too sweet; and form a natural bad
flavor in the husks, which are often kept in the must, a mawkish taste
is introduced. By increasing the quantity of the fruit, which is
generally used only in the same proportion as in gooseberry wine, and
avoiding the use of the husks, the flavor and quality of the wine are
materially improved. At present only sweet wines are generally made
from currants; but dry wines may also be fabricated from this fruit by
the method already pointed out; for these the fruit should be ripe.
Brisk wine may also be made, and then a proportion of unripe fruit
should be introduced. The use of tartar, likewise, Dr. MacColloch is of
opinion, would be advantageous, and would correct a defect not
uncommon, that of having an ammoniacal taste. Another improvement has
been put in practice with success, not only in making currant wine, but
in all those wines produced from fruits of which the flavor is either
bad or which have little or no flavor; this is by boiling the fruit
juice previously to fermentation. From this treatment many tasteless
fruits acquire a flavor, and many bad flavors are converted into
agreeable ones. This is particularly remarkable in the case of the
black currant, which, though harsh in its natural state, acquires by
boiling a powerful and to most persons an agreeable flavor. Wine made
from this fruit in a raw state has no particular property, whereas that
of the boiled may be, by careful management, brought to resemble some
of the best of the sweet Cape wines. The boiling must not be too long
continued, as this degree of heat tends to coagulate and precipitate
the ferellut, and thus render it ineffective. Some artificial ferment
is generally necessary with boiled juice. Great care must be taken in
separating the stalks, and if the skins and solid matter are fermented
in the vat, they must not, at all events, be introduced into the casks.
Many persons put the pure juice into the casks at once, strained,
without any previous fermentation in the vat.

RECIPE FOR WHITE CURRANT WINE.

Bruise forty pounds of the fruit in a tub of the capacity of fifteen or
twenty gallons, and add to it four gallons of water. Stir the whole
well, and squeeze till the pulp is thoroughly separated from the skins;
leave these materials at rest for about twelve hours, and then strain
them through a canvas bag or fine hair sieve, and pass one gallon of
fresh water through the mare. Dissolve thirty or twenty-five pounds of
white sugar in the juice thus obtained, and make up the whole quantity
by an addition of ten gallons and a half of water. The proportion of
sugar here given is for a brisk wine; if a sweet wine is required,
there must be forty pounds of sugar. White sugar is recommended as much
the best. If moist sugar be used, somewhat more will be necessary. The
must being now prepared, the fermentation and subsequent treatment must
be exactly the same as for gooseberry-wine, and the reader may
therefore refer to that recipe. If brandy is to be added, it should. be
added toward the end of the fermentation in the cask. For the above
quantity some will put in a quart of brandy alone; others mix it with
honey. Whether the wine should be racked off from the lees at the end
of six months, put into a cask for six months longer before it is
bottled, or be suffered to remain the whole time in the lees, must
depend upon the state of the wine according to the principles explained
above. The bottling should be carefully attended to. ANOTHER RECIPE,
White currants, nine gallons; white gooseberries, one gallon; White
sugar, twenty-five pounds; white tartar, an ounce; bitter almonds, two
ounces; water, nine gallons; brandy, one gallon.

MR. CORNELL'S RECIPE FOR MAKING RED CURRANT WINE.

Bruise eight gallons of red, currants with one quart of raspberries.
Press. out the juice, and to the residuum, after pressure, add eleven
gallons of cold water. Add two pounds of beet-root, sliced as thin as
possible, to give color, and let them infuse, with frequent mixture,
for twelve hours; then press out the liquor as before, and add it to
the juice. Next dissolve twenty pounds of raw sugar in the mixed
liquor, and three ounces of red tartar in fine powder. In some hours
the fermentation will commence, which is to be managed according to the
details for gooseberry wine and the principles we have stated
previously. When the fermentation is completely over, add one gallon of
brandy; let the wine stand for a week, then rack off, and let stand for
two months. It may now be finally racked off, bunged up in a cask, and
set by in a cool cellar for as many years as may be required to
ameliorate it.

BLACK CURRANT WINE

May be made in the same manner, using six gallons of black currants,
three gallons of strawberries, twenty-five pounds of raw sugar, four
ounces of red tartar, ten gallons of cold water, and three quarts of
brandy.

ELDERBERRY WINE.

The elderberry is well adapted to the production of wine. Its juice
contains a considerable portion of the principle necessary for a
vigorous fermentation, and its beautiful color communicates a rich tint
to the wine made from it. It is, however, deficient in sweetness, and
therefore demands an addition of sugar. There are several methods of
making this wine; the following are some of the most approved recipes:
Take one gallon of ripe elderberries and one quart of damsons or sloes,
for two gallons of wine to be made; boil the fruit in about half the
quantity of water till they burst, breaking them frequenltly with a
stick. Strain tile liquor and return it to the copper. To produce
eighteen gallons of wine, twenty gallons of this liquor are necessary,
and for whatever quantity the liquor falls short of this, water must be
added to make up. Boil this, together with fifty-six pounds of coarse
moist sugar, for half an hour, and it is to be fermented in the usual
manner when sufficiently cool, and then is to be tunned or put into the
cask. Put now into a muslin bag a pound and a half of ginger, bruised,
a pound of allspice, two ounces of cinnamon, and four or six ounces of
hops; suspend the bag with the spice in the cask by a string, not long
enough to let it touch the bottom; let the liquor work in the cask for
a fortnight, and fill up in the usual manner. The wine will be fit to
tap in two months, and is not improved by keeping like many other
wines. Elderberries alone may be used.

ANOTHER METHOD.

Elderberries, ten gallons; water, ten gallons; white sugar, forty-five
pounds; red tartar, eight ounces; fermented with yeast in the usual
manner. When in the cask, ginger root, sliced, or allspice, four
ounces; bitter almonds, three ounces; suspended in a bag, may be
allowed to infuse in the liquor when it is fermenting; they are then to
be removed. Brandy may be added or not. When the wine is clear, which
will be in about three months, it may be drawn off from the lees and
bottled. The spices may be varied according to taste.

BLACKBERRY WINE.

To one quart of juice two quarts of water and three pounds of sugar.
The berries to be mashed cold, and the juice expressed and strained.
The sugar dissolved in the water and strained. The whole then mixed in
kegs and placed in a cool cellar. The bung-hole to be left open until
fermentation has nearly ceased, then closed tight and left standing
until the ensuing April, when it should be carefully drawn and bottled.

STRAWBERRY OR RASPBERRY WINE.

Bruise and press out the juice of either fruits; pour on the mare seven
gallons of water; infuse for twelve hours and press out -the liquor.
Add this liquor to the juice, and mix them with six gallons of cider.
Dissolve in the mixture sixteen pounds of raw sugar and three ounces of
powdered red tartar, and then set it to ferment in the usual manner.
Pare the rinds of two lemons and of two oranges, and together with the
juice throw them into the fermenting tub, and take out the rinds when
the fermentation is over. Three gallons of brandy may be added. In
making raspberry wine, a gallon of white and red currant juice should
be added, and an equal quantity of water left out.

ORANGE WINE.

Seville oranges are used for this purpose; they are best in March. For
eighteen gallons of wine half a chest of oranges are required. Pare the
rinds from about a dozen, or two dozen, as more or less of the bitter
will be agreeable. Pour over this a quart or two of boiling water, and
after letting this stand for twelve hours, strain off the water, which
extracted much of the essential of the oranges. Take the peel off
entirely from the remainder of the oranges, squeeze the juice through a
bag or sieve, and put it into a cask with about forty-five pounds of
white sugar or fifty-five of the best moist sugar. Soak the pulp in
water for twenty-four hours, and after straining this, add it to the
cask. Repeat this several times till the cask is full. Stir the whole
well with a stick till the sugar is dissolved, then set it to ferment.
The fermentation is slower than with currant wine, but may be heard
hissing for several weeks. When this subsides, close the bung-hole, and
proceed as in the case with gooseberry wine. Some add brandy. The wine
requires to be kept in the cask. a year before it is bottled.

GINGER WINE.

Dissolve eighteen or twenty pounds of sugar in nine and a half gallons
of boiling water and add to it ten or twelve ounces of bruised ginger
root. Boil the mixture for about a quarter of an hour, and when nearly
cold add to it half a pint of yeast, and pour it into a cask to
ferment, taking care to fill the cask from time to time with the
surplus of the liquor made for that purpose. When the fermentation
ceases, rack off the wine, and bottle it when transparent. It is a
common practice to boil the outer rind of a few lemons together with
the ginger destined for the wine, to impart to the wine the flavor of
lemon peel.

CURRANT WINE.

Gather the currants when fully ripe; press and measure the juice; add
two-thirds water, and to each gallon of that mixture put three pounds
of Muscovado sugar (tile cleaner and drier the better; very coarse
sugar, first clarified, will do equally well); stir it well until the
sugar is quite dissolved, and then tun it up. Do not let the juice
stand over night before mixing; or at least not so long as to ferment.
Make rather more than to fill the casks, so as to fill them up after
drawing off the wine. Lay the bung lightly on the hole, to prevent
flies, etc., from creeping in. In three weeks or a month after making,
the bunghole may be stopped up, leaving only the vent-hole open, until
the wine has done working, which will be about the latter end of
October. It may then be racked off into other clean casks; but some
persons prefer letting it stand on the lees until spring, as it thus
acquires a stronger body and is in a great measure divested of that
sweet, luscious taste peculiar to made-wine. It may without damage
stand two years on the lees. When it is to be drawn off, bore a hole at
least an inch above the tap-hole, a little to the side of it, that it
may run clear off the lees.