A recipe from 1870 states, ‘This is an excellent drink to take out into the fields at harvest time.”

I wonder if the harvesters thought it an ‘excellent drink‘.  This was certainly a way of keeping them sober, at least, as it was a non-alcoholic use of hops!

Ingredients

• Three-quarters of an ounce (21 g) hops
• Half-ounce (14 g) bruised ginger
• 1.5 gallons water
• 1 lb (16 oz/450 g)  best brown sugar.

Method

1. Boil the hops and the bruised ginger in the water for 25 minutes
2. Add the sugar and boil for 10 minutes more
3. Strain and bottle or put into a cask.  It will be ready to drink when cold.

Source:  Mrs E.M. Stratton (1870), quoted in  Ann Johnson (2002) Old Recipes of Yorkshire, (p.60), published by Age Concern, Knaresborough.