The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-04-01
BEEF TEA a. A BEyERAGE.
The Drink supplaEIing Intoxicating Liq-
uors to a Large Extent.

Boston Globe
"People are drinking more beef tea every
day." said bartender. 1t Is getting to
constitute one OF the most.pIO6table and i'm
portaDt CT bar sales"
lis il used for the purpose OF getting over
the effects OF immoderate drinking"
Not nearly so much SIS you would sup
pose. or course some people take 1t for that
purpose. When a mans stomach is too
sbaky to retain anything else beef tea will
generally be a comfort and O consolation to
him. That is why Ii is used so largely in the
sick-room. No, people drink IL for all sorts
of reasons. during the'cold weather especially,
ard there has been an unusually heavy
demand for it this winter. There are men
who come in regularly at noontime and call
for il, and with a cracker or two seem to
make out a lunch. One man who breakfasts
at 10 and dimes at 5 says that cup of beef
tea is all that he needs between the two
meals. A great many soak cracker or two
in it, and say they can keep about their
business better with the nourishment beef
tea affords them"
us ii used much as simple beverage2'
For fancy drink? Well, suppose some
people prefer it. l don't know that ii is wise
for a man TO talk too much ABOUT MS own
business. bQt | suppose a large amount Of
beef tea drinking arises from the pernicious
American system of treating on every posi-
be occasion. After man who is only a
light drinker has been asked ID have some
thing half dozen times In one morning be
doesn't feel like calling for anything alco-
holic and lemonade and ginger ale are
trihe fiat, and so he takes beef tea. Bes 'des
that, there are at least half dozeo men who
patronize this place who drink beef tea every
day on q medical prescription. II Is sup
posed to be great thing in cases OF dyspep-
STA It is great deal easier to step into the
bsr-room aud have it prepared in hall i
minute than to keep it at home"
How about the profit on it?'
There are different profits on it. o. late
years the beef ter preparation seems to have
become pretty big business. From being
sold by two or three houses at stiff prices,
there have got to be thirty or forty brands
retailing at all price, from twenty 70 fifty
cents a pot. These little earthenwsrs pots
contain about two ouncestyou see. Some of
these preparations are OF American manu-
fscture, but the most expensive is imported.
We buy this there because we think it has a
peculiar rich flavor that you don't get in tue
other. 1t comes from South America.
know it is imported because il comes here
often with the Custom-house label on it"
How many drinks can goa make from
one Of these two-ounce pots9
Twelve or fifteen. You see it is thick
paste, which looks like soft mud. They
claim that that is the residue after boiling
down seven and half pounds of good beef.
We take half teaspoon of the mixture, pour
boiling water over it, season with salt and
pepper and 1t is all made"
What does the tea retail for per CLASP
I'VE charge 10 cents. In many places theg
charge 10. The difference is in the style.
Some men would rather pay % cents for an
article which they can buy elsewhere for 10,
for the sake OF being seen in the % cent
place. Ii the women were like the men in
this respect some of our dry goods house;
would go up, guess. But women, generally,
are too sharp, and, in fact, il is my expert
eDce that these same men who put on sc
much style rather expect their wives to
keep the household expenses down about
as economically as possible. Bat there is
profit enough in selling the drinks at IL
cents, as you can see. We get about 81 80
out of pot that doesn't cost us half q
dollar"
rs beef tea much OF a drunkard's drink
anyway
No; it rather takes the place OF stimula
ting drinks to large extent, but there is q
general idea that a man can't have the Jim
Jams with this beverage in his stomach
which / don't doubt has something to dc
with the sale of it. It's q ridiculous idea
though, as the nutriment OF the tea is de
stroyed by the alcohol and rendered worse
than useless"