Recommended The Bar-Tender's Guide by Jerry Thomas (1862, p.90) — Jerry Thomas 1862
| 2.5 whole | lemon — lemon juice and peel | acid |
| 2 oz | Cream of tartar — cream of tartar | base |
| 128 oz | water — boiling water | dilution |
| 8 oz | sugar — coarse sugar | sweetener |
- Put the cream of tartar, lemon juice and peel, and coarse sugar into a gallon pitcher.
- Pour on boiling water.
- When cool, it is fit for use.
- Nose
- Warm-drawn lemon and a faint mineral tartness shape the aroma.
- Palate
- It is brighter and more tartly structured than simple lemonade, with cream of tartar giving the drink a slightly firmer acid frame.
- Finish
- The finish is crisp, family-friendly, and thirst-quenching.
- Summary
- A practical household citrus refresher that shows temperance drinks as everyday domestic infrastructure as much as bar-room novelties.
This entry matters because it makes the domestic side of the refreshment tradition explicit. Thomas is not only teaching bartenders; he is preserving recipes that belonged in family and household routine as well.
The drink depends more on proportion and cooling than on showmanship. It should read as a stable family refresher rather than as an individual bar flourish.
Imperial Drink for Families widens the social frame of the ontology. Not every important nineteenth-century drink was built for taverns or parties.