The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-06-28

INTOXICANTS

UNlOAlIANIl
1t is probable that the first vice which
primal man acquired was drunkenness.
Scientists tell US that man and a certain
microbe are the only living organisms
that take naturally to alcohol. OF course,
tic animals-dogs. donkeys. horses and
elephants-will occasionally acquire a
taste for intoxicants. but, as rule, ami
mails will not touch them. But, as By
ron says, Man, being reasonable must
get drunk" The word reasonable here
should be reasoning, for without more
or less highly developed power of rea-
soning neither man nor any other animal
can get drunk, for the simple reason that
intoxicants dc not grow. but have to be
we in England are familiar are not very
many. In fact, the lower classes, as a
rule, only indulge in beer, gin, rum. bran
dy and whisky. OF port and other wines
they know little more than the names Ii
they know those. But there are many
intoxicants made In this country which
are hardly ever seen outside the locan-
ties where they are manufactured. For
example there is the grand old drink of
the Vikings-mead. 1t is made from hon
ey fermented, and, though it does not
taste az If it were of any particular
ale, and the unsuspecting imbiber will
find himself quite suddenly laid out aft
er couple of ordinary glasses. This
liquor is made plentifully in Hunting
well as In other counties. But the Lon
doner knows 1t not. He even believes
that 1t Is drink like sack. which nobody
now knows how to make. Yet. barring
it's intoxicating effects to those not used
to It, 1t is one of the most wholesome
and palatable alcoholic beverages in ex-
istence.
Another drink not much known in
England, but common in the United
States, which conceals the most intoxi-
eating qualities beneath a mild taste,
States is known as hard cider One gets
it, though rarely. In Somersetshire A
glass Of 1t will upset q strong man who
is not used to it. In some parts of the
country a most fiery and potent spirit is
made from plums 1t is manufactured
and sold surreptitiously, and can be
made either from ordinary cultivated
plums from the wild green gage,
which in Huntingdonshire Is called a
saflrf' h fc ,rt. &, ,I,;k
the taste for 1t Is an acquired one for to
the uninitiated it resembles methylated
spirit. There are many varieties of beer
made in England which are only locally
known and appreciated. Heather beer is
one of these. 1t is getting uncommon
now. the older people who know the
recipe are gradually dying out, and the
younger generation are content with the
ordinary beer of the village inn, arseni-
Gated or otherwise.
Many of the old English drinks survive
In out-of-the-way villages. They are I'M
attainable to the ordinary traveller, one
reason for this being that. unless he be
pedestrian tourist he will never probably
strike the places where these old brews
are made, and, even IL he should they
are not sold at inns. though they may be
made there for private consumption on
ly. Their chief manufacturers are old
housekeepers to small farmers and cot
tagers, SO that 1t Is only by living In a
village and knowing the inhabitants that
one may get to know OF these drinks.
"Koorow." an old liquor. practically OBJ
solete these three hundred years, Is still
made in certain villages of Derbyshire
1t Is a species OF ale, exceedingly smooth
and favored with Spices Another old
English beer is 'braket," which Is made
from ale, pepper and honey. This ia a
drink which was exceedingly popular in
the fourteen hundreds. 1t can be got In
certain parts of Hampshire and Dorset
shire. "Aleberry'' is still another which
may yet be found. though seldom, Its
necessary ingredients are old beer,
spices, sugar and bread But old beer
has now become rarity
Some terribly potent liquors can be dis
titled from the innocent-looking banana
Also from the milk OF the cocoanut They
are fond of the latter In the West In
dies, though, of course, the chief drink
there is rum. The drinks of the old
world are many and as varied as
those of the new. The Japanese make
an excellent one from the plums and
from the flowers of the motherwort and
the peach. The Chinese produce Several
qualities OF spirit from rice and pulse. all
of them Intoxicating, and most of them
poisonously intoxicating, besides which
they can make an alcoholic drink from
mutton. The Russians run them close
in curious preparation of an animal
nature. This is their qwass, drink
which to the unintiated tastes like soap
and water, and which is made from
milk. Cocoanut Is used in the old world
as in the new. One method of preparing
an Intoxicating drink from it obtains in
the Marquesas, and would probably not
recommend itself to the European who
was at all fastidious in his tastes. Brief
ly, the process Is as follows: A number
OF boys who are for the time being I'M
employed are set to work to chew up
chips of cocoanut and to spit out the
result into bowl. The contents of the
vessels are then collected and emptied
into a vat. Water is added. together
with a little sugar and palm wine, and
the compound is allowed to ferment,
when 1t makes a drink which Is greatly
appreciated among the islanders, If not
by their white visitors. A popular drink