The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-03
.FAVOR|TE DRINKS. ALL HAVE HISTORY Grog and Negus Named After
 Brave Leaders DRINKING WINE IS OLD How Finest of sherrIes Is Made and Where It Got It's Name-Mint
 Julep Came to Us From
 England.
DRINKING WINE IS OLD

From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
 Henry Watterson's eulogy upon mint juiep some weeks since suggests vol ume upon the origin and nomenclature of drinks.
 Julep is of very ancient origin reVN- ing visions of the great Haroun al Ras- enid, who quaffed from the golden bowl a distillation of gul-ab, 1. e., gull, rose lab, from a distillation of rose water which, after its transition through Latin countries is met again in France as 1u- leppe; then later. deprived of it's double D and by the Saxon. ever impatient of unnecessary luggage. it becomes plain Ju- lep, a connection of brandy and water favored with pungent herbs. Although mint julep has become peculiarly an American patronymic, it must have come from England Some twenty-five years ago an Englishman near a western city in whose nostrils fingered the memory of mint and julep, sent back to the garden of his boyhood for roots from his old mint bed in Essex, and soon had its rival fiourishing about his cistern where by family law 1t received all the refuse wa ter from lbations for thirsty drinkers. The "reminiscences inspired by this exotic combined with good old Kentucky bour- bon or rye were hardly eclipsed by the mint julep of Virginia's Sambo.
 Ancients Loved Wine.
 Mixed drinks were common among the ancients, who were chaotic rot alone in this. The cellars of the Roman consuls were generously stocked with amphorae bearing clearly the mark of the date and place of vintage. but the Roman always watered his wine or made of it a concoc- tion of wne water and honey favored with spice served hot. All houses were equipped with small furnaces for the pur- pose of heating these mixtures. | Moore sings of the white wines of Shi- rag:
 That richly ran.'
 As if that jewel large and rare,
 The ruby, for which Kublai-Khan
 fOnered city's wealth. was blushing
 Melted within the goblets there.' Those fairy goblets for which Shiraz was also famed, whence Saadi and Hafiz peopled Persian literature with Ferris. Perhaps the Spanish Zeres, whence comes the name of sherry was nicknamed for ancient home of wine, Shiraz. However, that may be, the Zeres wine became known commercially not earlier than | 1720. Pierre Domecq, F'renchman, was among the earliest to recognize its capa- bilities and to bring it to the high state of perfection 1t afterward attained. In appreciation of this good service ren- dered his country Ferdinand conferred upon the mercantile house of Domecq the right exclusively to bear on it's wine casks the royal arms of Spain
 Finest of Sherries.
 The finest of sherries is the Amontilla- | do, which differs from the other in color, odor and flavor. though produced in a l precisely similar manner from the same grape. The difference Is produced mys- I teriously from the same vintage. When | put into different casks from the same butt one will become Amontillado and the other remains unaffected. In the first, or sometimes not until the second year upon those which some mysterious influence designs for Amontilado, there | forms vegetable weed. long and stringy, l similar to fresh water weeds but with | fine fibers bearing a minute white flower. | Immediately after shedding these flow | CTS the plant dies and leaves that peculiar flavor. The Amontillado sherry was first | imported into England in 1S1, but in such small supplies that the entire quantity was only sufficient for three consumers, one of which was the duke of Kent l One of the favorite drinks of the En- glish tar has for many years been grog, | which owes It's name to Edward Vernon, whose gallantry and devotion to his pro- | fession endeared him to English Jack who never fails to find a nickname for him he loves In bad weather Vernon was in the habit of pacing the deck in a rough grogram cloak, which won him | the title of "Old Grog." At the reduction of Porto Bello, with six men of war only | he introduced the use of rum and water among the exhausted ships company, which proved such a palatable beverage that 1t became as popular in the navy as the admiral himself, and in his honor was surnamed Grog.
 Vernon in Rhyme. | The incident is prettily put into legend | by poet of the day in seven stanzas or rhyme. The first three portray how the | nectar of the gods is offered by Neptune | to a toast to England, but ere the cup was served the nectar soured. Indignant the king commanded the Nereids: | Bid Vernon mix draught for me | To toast his native land
 Swift OCT the waves the Nereids flew HeTe NernOHS nag appeared; Around the shores they sung True Bue."
 l And Britans hero cheered. A mighty bowl on deck he drew, | And filled it to the brink
 The sacred robe which Vernon wore 7 | Was drenched within the same; And hence his virtues guard our shore, | And Grog derives it's name" Negus, as much enjoyed in the army as grog is in the navy, attained it's name | from jovial colonel in the days of | George l. This Colonel Negus was ac-