Banquet (closing drink)
Hippocras, the Queen's Spiced Wine
DrinkDocumented🌶️ 🍯facile2 h (including infusion)
A red or white wine sweetened with sugar and infused with noble spices—cinnamon, ginger, cloves—then clarified through a felt bag, the "sleeve of Hippocrates" from which it takes its name.
Banquet (closing drink)
A red or white wine sweetened with sugar and infused with noble spices—cinnamon, ginger, cloves—then clarified through a felt bag, the "sleeve of Hippocrates" from which it takes its name.
When the banquet draws to a close, hippocras is presented to Us, and no wine better befits a queen. Sugar is melted in it, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves from the Indies are thrown in, then it is poured many times through the cloth sleeve until it is clear as ruby. I take it light, lengthened with a little water, as befits one who would keep a sharp wit. Drink a cup with a wafer, and you shall know the taste of Our court.
Ingredients
- •Red (or white) wine of quality — a pitcher (base)
- •Sugar — a good handful (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, grains of paradise — to taste (noble spices)
How it was made : Hippocras was made by macerating sweetened, spiced wine, then repeatedly filtering it through a conical felt bag called the "sleeve of Hippocrates" (hence its name). It was traditionally served at the end of the meal with wafers.
Sources : The Good Huswifes Jewell, 1585 · Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, 1615