HOW TO MAKE PERFECT WINES & SPIRITS From herbs FROM HOME
WINES FROM DRIED HERBS
In case the advantages of making wines from dried herbs do not immediately become evident, let me explain that the town and city dweller (and countryman, too, for that matter) may make all the old favourite wines of Granny’s day for next to nothing. Practically no work is involved because, unlike fresh fruits which have to be gathered and roots that have to be scrubbed, grated and boiled, suitable packets of herbs are available ready to use. In cases, many town and city dwellers might well know of the old country wines and wish that they could make them- indeed, they may well have lived in the country and tasted the wines made from the fresh herbs; dandelion, sage, coltsfoot, mint, balm, yarrow, and countless others.
People living in large towns like Coventry and Birmingham have written to me asking about this field of winemaking, for they recall their early days when ‘Mum’ used to make what they now describe as ‘really wonderful wines form leaves she used to collect from the fields all round where we used to live’.
Dried herbs normally cost less than twenty cents per packet and such a packet is usually more than enough for a gallon of wine. The actual amount of the dried article may be varied according to personal tastes, but usually two ounces is enough for one gallon, and this amount rarely costs very much. I have found that the packets of herbs supplied by Heath and Heather Ltd., of St. Albans, Hertfordshire branches in many towns), are usually suitable for one gallon of wine-though the amount in each packet varies slightly with the variety of herb.
Those who know their herbs well enough to gather them fresh from the garden or field or hedgerow may do so, of course, but it must be borne in mind that one needs at least one pound of the fresh plant to get the equivalent of two ounces of the dried. It is most important on should be expert at identification because many health-giving herbs bear a striking resemblance to others which have proved themselves to be deadly poisonous. By buying ready packeted herbs such risks are done away with, and Health and Heather Ltd. Will send to anyone free on application their book of herbs.
Read Related Post
