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Drink

Peppermint- Water

Water distilled with fresh peppermint leaves.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Gather the peppermint when fully grown and before it seeds.

  2. Cut it up and place it in a still, covering it with water.

Distill

  1. Set the still over a good fire.

  2. Once it begins to drop, tilt it slightly to allow slower distillation for clearer water.

Bottle and rest

  1. Bottle the liquid when cold and let it stand for a day or two before corking it well.

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.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Peppermint
Supplies the volatile aromatic oils that give the distilled water its flavour and scent.
Water
Acts as the medium that carries the peppermint's aromatic compounds over during distillation.

The step that matters

Tilting the still once distillate begins to drop. Tilting slows the rate of distillation, which helps keep the condensed liquid clearer. Running the still too fast can carry over more plant material and cloudy droplets, so the slower pace matters for the final appearance.

“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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