Who says a cocktail has to be alcoholic? Certainly not Jerry Thomas. He has a whole section of “Temperance Drinks” (oddly, the section itself is numbered 221, so I’m not entirely sure what his system is). We’ve actually seen one of these before, the Soda Nectar (228), but this one is a little more involved. He is definitely playing fast and loose not just the definition of lemonade, but also the more common definition of “temperance,” as this actually does have alcohol in it, if only a small amount. It’s also nice to be able to make this on a per glass basis, instead of a big pitcher all at once.

Interesting to note that there’s a footnote after the title of this drink which directs people to some other lemonade recipes in “The Manual for the Manufacture of Cordials, etc,” in the “latter part of this work.” I don’t actually have this part, but I think it’s okay — I saw it online, and it’s more about the ingredients than the actual cocktails. Which is cool, but not the goal here.

In the news-I-know-little-about vein, apparently Beyonce’s lawyers are trying to dismiss a filmmaker’s claim that she stole elements of his short film in her video album, Lemonade, that was released recently. Presented mostly without comment, as I feel like rights are such a messed up issue that it’s really hard to come down on one side or the other.

Continue reading “222. Lemonade” →