My paternal grandmother, Helen S. Wright, must have been fond of champagne as she collected several recipes for her book, Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines published in 1909. I seriously wonder if she tried any of them but she included eight. After reading the ingredients of the recipe for American Champagne I wonder if she ever drank the bubbly from this recipe or any other.
In Grandmother’s words:
“Seven quarts good cider (crab-apple cider is the best), one pint best fourth-proof brandy, one quart genuine champagne wine, one quart milk, one-half ounce of bitartrate of potassa. Mix and let stand a short time time; bottle while fermenting. An excellent imitation. “Milk”? What did the stuff look like? Hard to imagine that it was an “excellent imitation” but then I should try it before I scoff at it. Frankly, drinking the “genuine champagne wine” and the brandy sound like the best idea.
To buy Old Time Recipes for Homemade Wines by Helen S. Wright Click Here.
Karen Meyers