HYPOCRAS

In the Middle Ages hypocras was a spiced wine popular in France, served to revitalise knights and other warriors exhausted by combat. With our blend of spices you can now make your own. Made with red wine, the more traditional form, it is refreshing and seriously delicious. For a different taste, that many prefer, try it with white wine.
Serve it well chilled as an aperitif or at room temperature as a dessert wine. Use it when cooking to deglaze a pan after frying duck, or to soak sultanas, airelles or blueberries before serving them with game or other meat in a rich sauce.
Instructions for use: Pour the sachet into a bottle of wine, leave to macerate for 8 hours, strain and add 50gr to 70gr of sugar. Serve well chilled! Can be kept for up to 3 months in the refrigerator. Instructions on the packet. According to legend it was the Greek doctor Hippocrates who invented hypocras in the 4th century BC for purely medicinal uses. In the Middle Ages hypocras was considered a medicinal spiced wine and the ingredients could only be bought from an apothecary. Its usage wasn't purely limited to the revitalising of exhausted warriors; it was also served on festive occasions and with desserts such as dried fruit and cakes. In France François Villon extolled its revigorating virtues. Today, with no warriors left to revitalise (...), it still makes a great drink for parties and an unusual aperitif with its unique taste and fascinating history. Hypocras recipes can be found in many French recipe books dating from the Middle Ages (Le Petit Albert, le Mesnagier de Paris, le Viandier de Taillevent, le Liber de Coquina et les Secrets Antiques) and the British "The Good Huswifes Jewell" by Thomas Dawson (circa 1587). However trying to follow these recipes is complicated and the end result is often undrinkable. It is difficult to find the exact equivalents for the quantities mentioned and the measures used are more likely to kill an ox rather than regale the palate. Even recipes which have been translated and adapted by modern cookery writers have had to be revised ... Using the vague indications of the original recipes as a starting point, it took us several years of trial and error to perfect a well-balanced hypocras, with real character but adapted to the modern palate. A drink that takes you back to the ambiance of a mediaeval banquet.

 
Ingredients: Roses, galangal, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, mace, ginger.