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Drink

Toast Water

A beverage made by steeping toasted bread slices in boiling water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Toast Water

Toast Water

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut two slices of bread ½ to ¾ inch thick with the crust on.

  2. Toast the bread on both sides until dark brown, avoiding burning.

  3. Break the toasted bread into two pieces and place them in a porcelain pitcher.

Steep and cool

  1. Pour 3 pints of boiling water over the bread.

  2. Cover the pitcher and let it cool until it's ready to drink.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Bread
Toasting browns the crust, and the toasted bread releases its flavor and color into the hot water.
Boiling water
Hot water extracts flavor and color from the toasted bread and carries it into the drink.

The step that matters

Toasting the bread until dark brown. Toasting drives Maillard browning and caramelization, which create the drink's color and roasted flavor. Stopping short leaves it pale and bland, while burning adds bitter, acrid notes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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