lland Pint is very little
bigger then the English Wine-pint:) of Water, you must put two pound of
Honey; The Honey must be stirred in Water, till it be all melted; If it be
stirred about in warm water, it will melt so much the sooner.
When all is dissolved, it must be so strong that an Egge may swim in it
with the end upwards. And if it be too sweet or too strong, because there
is too much Honey; then you must put more water to it; yet so, that, as
above, an Hens Egge may swim with the point upwards: And then that newly
added water must be likewise well stirred about, so that it may be mingled
all alike. If the Eggs sink (which is a token that there is not honey
enough) then you must put more Honey to it, and stir about, till it be all
dissolved, and the Eggs swim, as abovesaid. This being done, it must be
hanged over the fire, and as it beginneth to seeth, the scum, that doth
arise upon it, both before and after, must be clean skimed off. When it is
first set upon the fire, you must measure it first with a stick, how deep
the Kettel is, or how much Liquor there be in it; and then it must boil so
long, till one third part of it be boiled away. When it is thus boiled, it
must be poured out into a Cooler, or open vessel, before it be tunned in
the Barrel; but the Bung-hole must be left open, that it may have vent. A
vessel, which hath served for Sack is best.
TO MAKE EXCELLENT MEATHE
To every quart of Honey, take four quarts of water. Put your water in a
clean Kettle over the fire, and with a stick take the just measure, how
high the water cometh, making a notch, where the superficies toucheth the
stick. As soon as the water is warm, put in your Honey, and let it boil,
skiming it always, till it be very clean; Then put to every Gallon of
water, one pound of the best Blew-raisins of the Sun, first clean picked
from the stalks, and clean washed. Let them remain in the boiling Liquor,
till they be throughly swollen and soft; Then take them out, and put them
into a Hair-bag, and strain all the juice and pulp and substance from them
in an Apothecaries Press; which put back into your liquor, and let it boil,
till it be consumed just to the notch you took at first, for the measure of
your water alone. Then let your Liquor run through a Hair-strainer into an
empty Woodden-fat, which must stand endwise, with the head of the upper-end
out; and there let it remain till the next day, that the liquor be quite
cold. Then Tun it u
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