Anise. Juniper. Balms. Sage.
Caraway. Hyssop. Mint. Wild Thyme.
Citronella. Lavender. Orange. Garden Thyme.
When the first method, namely, that of distilling over a naked fire is employed, the distillate must be subjected to a process of rectification. This consists in pouring the crude distillate into the water-bath of a still and diluting it with water, whereby the excess of volatile oil is liberated, and made to collect in globules upon the surface. By its means, is also effected the removal from the spirit of the empyreumatic flavour acquired during the course of a distillation pushed to excess. In conducting this operation, it is necessary to watch the fire carefully and to frequently renew the water in the cooler.
It is impossible to lay too much stress upon the importance of exercising care in making choice of the ingredients to be employed by the liquorist. A few general hints on this subject will probably be found useful to the reader. All seeds, roots, woods, and other drugs should be purchased ready dried; the seeds should be full and plump, roots sound and very dry, and woods hard and compact. When flowers are used, the freshest, and those possessing most perfume, should be selected ; they should also be full-blown and quite dry. Fruits having a good flavour and colour are to be preferred, and those which are perfectly fresh, having been gathered in dry weather, and possessing a sound and smooth skin. The plants used should also have been gathered in dry weather, and they should be healthy and vigorous in growth : when dry, they should he packed in paper and kept in a dry place.
Liqueurs are never perfect in flavour immediately after their preparation; they require time, mellowing and many precautions for their preservation in order to produce the desired result. The room in which they are stored should be kept uniformly at•a temperature of 15° or 20°, and this room should be situate as far as possible from all external noises and disturbance. Day light, and especially the direct rays of the sun, tend to destroy the colour of liqueurs, causing the colouring matter to fall to the bottom of the bottles. When in large quantities, it is far better to store them in casks, which should be as large as possible.
Rum. Rhum ; GEH., Rum.) The name of rum is applied to a spirit obtained from the molasses of the sugar-cane, in the manner described on p. 204. It is a spirit of excellent quality and flavour, and is much valued when old. That which comes from the West Indian Islands, and particularly from Jamaica, is the best. Martinique and Guadeloupe furnish also very good i qualities. Considerable quantities of rum are also made in Brazil, and imported into Europe and North America. When hew, rum is white and transparent, and has a peculiar, unpleasant flavour, which is generally understood to proceed from the resinous aromatic gum, or essential oil, con tained in the rind of the cane ; but apart from this, an empyreumatic oil appears to be generated during the fermentation of the wash which Liebig ascribes to the interchange of the elements of sugar and gliiten. This flavour is, however, exceedingly undesirable, and has to be removed before the spirit is fit for the market ; this may be done by the use of charcoal and lime, the former to absorb, and the latter to combine with the'oil, and to precipitate it in the form of a soap. Awooden box, about 2 ft. long and 1 ft. in diameter, with a division running down to within an inch of the bottom, is filled with coarsely powdered charcoal, through which the spirit is made to pass as it runs from the worm. The charcoal absorbs a considerable portion of the oil, and the rum consequently flows from the filter much purified. It is then conveyed to the ruin butt (of about 300 or 500 gallons capacity), which is situated at a good elevation, and at once heated with a little caustic lime, and well-stirred up. After an interval of two days, the flavour may be tried, and if found satisfactory, the contents of the butt may be drawn off through a charcoal filter, similar to the first, into the colouring butt to be coloured. But if the lime used be not enough, a little more must be added, mixing the whole together again ; and after two days it may be run off as noticed. At this period the lime will be seen at the bottom of the butt in combination with the oil, forming together a kind of soapy precipitate.