Put into a large tumbler one teaspoonful of icing-sugar, with half a pint of milk, one-third of a wine-glassful of rum, and two-thirds of a wine-glassful of brandy; add crushed ice, shake well, strain into another glass, and dust with cinnamon and nutmeg. _Brandy Champirelle_ is another importation from the land of the stars and stripes. Take a small tumbler and bestow therein one wine-glassful of brandy, six drops of Angostura bitters, a liqueur-glassful of curaçoa, and some crushed ice. Shake well, and strain. {171} _Black Stripe._ Mix in a small tumbler one wine-glassful of Santa Cruz, or white rum, one tablespoonful of golden syrup, and one tablespoonful of water; fill the tumbler with crushed ice, and shake well. For a winter drink, substitute boiling water for ice, and grate a little nutmeg atop. _Bosom Caresser._ Small tumbler, one wine-glassful of sherry, half a wine-glassful of brandy, the yolk of an egg, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, and two grains of cayenne pepper. Add ice, shake well, strain, and dust with nutmeg and cinnamon. _Colleen Bawn._ Small tumbler, one egg beaten with a teaspoonful of sugar, one-third of a wine-glassful of yellow chartreuse, and like quantities, respectively, of benedictine and rye whisky; shake well, strain, and dust with cinnamon, nutmeg, and pink sugar. Although the word “Posset” suggests a bad cold in the head it may be noticed _en route_, with other potions. It is a medicated drink of some antiquity; for among the numerous English authors who in some way or other speak of it, the divine William has made one of his characters say: “We’ll have a posset . . . at the latter end of a sea-coal fire.” And Sir John Suckling, who died in 1641, says in one of his poems:— In came the bridesmaids with the posset. {172} Dr. Johnson describes posset as milk curdled with wine and other acids; we may therefore infer that the preparation of sherry and curd which we call _White Wine Whey_ is the Milk Posset of our ancestors. Put one pint of milk into a saucepan, and when it boils pour in a gill of sherry; boil it till the curd becomes hard, then strain it through a fine sieve. Rub a few lumps of sugar on the rind of a lemon and put them into the whey; grate a small quantity of nutmeg into it, and sweeten to taste. _Pepper Posset._ The better to promote perspiration, whole peppercorns are sometimes boiled in the whey. A Pepper Posset was known to the learned and ingenious John Dryden, as will appear from the following lines written by him:— A sparing diet did her health assure; Or sick, a pepper posset was her cure. _Cider Posset._ Pound the peel of a lemon in a mortar, and pour on it one quart of fresh-drawn cider; sweeten with lump-sugar, add one gill of brandy and one quart of new milk. Stir the mixture well, strain it through a hair sieve, grate a little nutmeg over it, and it is fit for use. In a former chapter a recipe for {173} _Sack Posset_