Tract · Cocktails

Hot drink · Stirred · Historical · complexity 3/5

Purl

Purl, or Early Birds, is a hot whisked ale-and-egg restorative finished with spirits.

ale · egg · ginger · warming · morning · winter · immediate_service

Served in Cup or tankard.

Variants (2)

Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks by William Terrington (1869, p.187) — Terrington 1869

1 quartale — Warm.base
1 glassspirit — spiritsbase
1 gillale — cold aleother
3 wholeegg — eggsother
1 tablespoonfulginger — powdered gingerother
1 tablespoonfulnutmeg — Mixed with ginger.other
2 ozmoist sugar sweetener
  1. Heat the quart of ale with the powdered ginger and nutmeg.
  2. Whisk three eggs with the gill of cold ale and the moist sugar until well frothed.
  3. Add the warm ale by degrees and then the glass of spirits.
  4. Drink immediately.

The subtitle 'Early Birds' preserves purl's morning-drink associations.

This is a temperature-sensitive egg drink where immediate service matters more than storage or straining.

Drinks a La Mode by Mrs de Salis (1891, p.42) — Drinks a La Mode 1891

1.25 quartale — One quart hot ale plus a gill of cold ale.base
1 glassgin base
1 tablespoonginger — powdered gingerother
1 tablespoonnutmeg other
3 eggwhole egg — eggsother
2 ouncebrown sugar — moist sugarsweetener
  1. Heat a quart of ale with ginger and nutmeg, whisk cold ale with sugar and eggs until frothed, add the warm ale by degrees, then add gin.

See also: Cambridge Ale Cup, Egg Flip, Freemasons' Cup

The text says it should be drunk immediately.