Part 117

Oil of bitter almonds 1 part Oil of clover 1 part Caramel 32 parts Alcohol 192 parts

The alcohol may be replaced by twice its volume of good bourbon whiskey. A much cheaper, but correspondingly poor substitute for the above may be made as follows:

Twenty-five gallons of soft water, 2 pounds tartaric acid, 25 pounds of brown sugar, and 1 pint of yeast are allowed to stand in a warm place, in a clean cask with the bung out, for 24 hours. Then bung up the cask, after adding 3 gallons of whiskey, and let stand for 48 hours, after which the liquor is ready for use.

CIDER VINEGAR: See Vinegar.

«Cigars»

«Cigar Sizes and Colors.»—Cigars are named according to their color and shape. A dead-black cigar, for instance, is an “Oscuro,” a very dark-brown one is a “Colorado,” a medium brown is a “Colorado Claro,” and a yellowish light brown is a “Claro.” Most smokers know the names of the shades from “Claro” to “Colorado,” and that is as far as most of them need to know. As to the shapes, a “Napoleon” is the biggest of all cigars—being 7 inches long; a “Perfecto” swells in the middle and tapers down to a very small head at the lighting end; a “Panatela” is a thin, straight, up-and-down cigar without the graceful curve of the “Perfecto”; a “Conchas” is very short and fat, and a “Londres” is shaped like a “Perfecto” except that it does not taper to so small a head at the lighting end. A “Reina Victoria” is a “Londres” that comes packed in a ribbon-tied bundle of 50 pieces, instead of in the usual four layers of 13, 12, 13 and 12.

«How to Keep Cigars.»—Cigars kept in a case are influenced every time the case is opened. Whatever of taint there may be in the atmosphere rushes into the case, and is finally taken up by the cigars. Even though the cigars have the appearance of freshness, it is not the original freshness in which they were received from the factory. They have been dry, or comparatively so, and have absorbed more moisture than has been put in the case, and it matters not what that moisture may be, it can never restore the flavor that was lost during the drying-out process.

After all, it is a comparatively simple matter to take good care of cigars. All that is necessary is a comparatively air-tight, zinc-lined chest. This should be {183} behind the counter in a place where the temperature is even. When a customer calls for a cigar the dealer takes the box out of the chest, serves his customer, and then puts the box back again. The box being opened for a moment the cigars are not perceptibly affected. The cigars in the close, heavy chest are always safe from atmospheric influences, as the boxes are closed, and the chest is open but a moment, while the dealer is taking out a box from which to serve his customer.

Some of the best dealers have either a large chest or a cool vault in which they keep their stock, taking out from time to time whatever they need for use. Some have a number of small chests, in which they keep different brands, so as to avoid opening and closing one particular chest so often.

It may be said that it is only the higher priced cigars that need special care in handling, although the cheaper grades are not to be handled carelessly. The Havana cigars are more susceptible to change, for there is a delicacy of flavor to be preserved that is never present in the cheaper grades of cigars.

Every dealer must, of course, make a display in his show case, but he need not serve his patrons with these cigars. The shrinkage in value of the cigars in the case is merely a business proposition of profit and loss.

«Cigar Flavoring.»—I.—Macerate 2 ounces of cinnamon and 4 ounces of tonka beans, ground fine, in 1 quart of rum.

II.—Moisten ordinary cigars with a strong tincture of cascarilla, to which a little gum benzoin and storax may be added. Some persons add a small quantity of camphor or oil of cloves or cassia.

III.—Tincture of valerian 4 drachms Butyric aldehyde 4 drachms Nitrous ether 1 drachm Tincture vanilla 2 drachms Alcohol 5 ounces Water enough to make 16 ounces

IV.—Extract vanilla 4 ounces Alcohol 1⁠/⁠2 gallon Jamaica rum 1⁠/⁠2 gallon Tincture valerian 8 ounces Caraway seed 2 ounces English valerian root 2 ounces Bitter orange peel 2 ounces Tonka beans 4 drachms Myrrh 16 ounces

Soak the myrrh for 3 days in 6 quarts of water, add the alcohol, tincture valerian, and extract of vanilla, and after grinding the other ingredients to a coarse powder, put all together in a jug and macerate for 2 weeks, occasionally shaking; lastly, strain.

V.—Into a bottle filled with 1⁠/⁠2 pint of French brandy put 1 1⁠/⁠4 ounces of cascarilla bark and 1 1⁠/⁠4 ounces of vanilla previously ground with 1⁠/⁠2 pound of sugar; carefully close up the flask and distil in a warm place. After 3 days pour off the liquid, and add 1⁠/⁠4 pint of mastic extract. The finished cigars are moistened with this liquid, packed in boxes, and preserved from air by a well-closed lid. They are said to acquire a pleasant flavor and mild strength through this treatment.

«Cigar Spots.»—The speckled appearance of certain wrappers is due to the work of a species of fungus that attacks the growing tobacco. In a certain district of Sumatra, which produces an exceptionally fine tobacco for wrappers, the leaves of the plant are commonly speckled in this way. Several patents have been obtained for methods of spotting tobacco leaves artificially. A St. Louis firm uses a solution composed of:

Sodium carbonate 3 parts Calx chlorinata 1 part Hot water 8 parts

Dissolve the washing soda in the hot water, add the chlorinated lime, and heat the mixture to a boiling temperature for 3 minutes. When cool, decant into earthenware or stoneware jugs, cork tightly, and keep in a cool place. The corks of jugs not intended for immediate use should be covered with a piece of bladder or strong parchment paper, and tightly tied down to prevent the escape of gas, and consequent weakening of the bleaching power of the fluid. The prepared liquor is sprinkled on the tobacco, the latter being then exposed to light and air, when, it is said, the disagreeable odor produced soon disappears.

CINCHONA: See Wines and Liquors.

CINNAMON ESSENCE: See Essences and Extracts.

CINNAMON OIL AS AN ANTISEPTIC: See Antiseptics.

CITRATE OF MAGNESIUM: See Magnesium Citrate.

CLARET LEMONADE AND CLARET PUNCH: See Beverages, under Lemonades. {184}

CLARIFICATION OF GELATIN AND GLUE: See Gelatin.

«CLARIFYING.»

Clarification is the process by which any solid particles suspended in a liquid are either caused to coalesce together or to adhere to the medium used for clarifying, that they may be removed by filtration (which would previously have been impossible), so as to render the liquid clear.