I have just completed editing the diary of a whiskey rectifier who lived
in Cincinnati and St. Louis, 1847-1864.  His name was Joseph Mersman,
and his record contains a half-dozen recipes for making (40-gallon
quantities) flavored alcoholic drinks.  Whiskey was the main ingredient.

This book will be published by the Ohio University Press in Spring 2007
as
A Self-Made Man:  The Private Life of Joseph J. Mersman, Whiskey
Merchant.

Linda A. Fisher

Linda A. Fisher, MD, MPH
4026 Woodland Road
Annandale, VA    22003
703-354-3872


-----Original Message-----
From: Alcohol and Drugs History Society
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jon Miller
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 12:02 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: improving wines in C19 America

I read today about "sweets" or vegetable juices added to wines to 
"improve" them in early nineteenth-century America. I'm aware that 
the wines of early America were nothing like the ones we have today, 
but this was the first I had heard of the use of vegetable juice in 
their preparation.

What vegetable juices were used? I can imagine that beet juice, for 
example, might have been useful to the wine merchant who wanted to 
double his stock by mixing in rain water, rye whiskey, etc. Does 
anyone know any more about this practice?

Jon