View source for Cordial (medicine)

{{about|the medicinal cordial|other uses|cordial (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:apothecarybottles.jpg|right|thumb|375px|[[Apothecary]] bottles; how cordial would have been sold.]]

 

A '''cordial''' is any invigorating and stimulating preparation; e.g., [[peppermint]] cordial. The term derives from obsolete [[medicine|medicinal]] usage, as various [[beverage]]s were concocted which were believed to be beneficial to one's health, especially for the [[heart]] (''cordialis'' in [[Latin]]). With their flecks of [[gold leaf]] and their bright yellow hues cordials take their name from the 'cordial vertues' of the rays of the sun that [[alchemists]] thought they encapsulated.<ref name='rosolio'> {{cite web | url = http://www.historicfood.com/rosolio.htm | title = Cordial Waters | accessdate = 2010-08-23 | last = Day | first = Ivan | work = Historic Food}}</ref>

==History==
Most cordials were of European origin, first produced in Italian [[apothecaries]] during the [[Renaissance]] where the art of distilling was refined during the fifteenth and 16th centuries. It is from this origin that cordials are frequently referred to in French as ''Liqueurs d’ltalie'', it is also from this that we have [[liqueur]]s. From the Renaissance onwards, cordials were usually based on [[Alcoholic beverage|alcohol]] in which certain [[herbs]], [[spices]] or other ingredients were allowed to steep.  The first cordials arrived in England in the late 15th century and were called distilled cordial waters. These were strictly used as alcoholic medicines, prescribed in small doses to invigorate and revitalise the heart, body and spirit as well as cure diseases. By the 18th century cordials were being imbided for their intoxicating effects and medicinal virtues, and were fast becoming recreational drinks, eventually evolving into [[liqueur]]s.

Though cordials originated on the continent a number of British ‘sweet [[drams]]’ achieved popularity in Europe.

==Uses==
Cordials were used to renew the natural heat, recreate and revive the spirits, and free the whole body from the malignity of diseases.<ref name='rosolio'></ref> Many cordials were also considered [[aphrodisiacs]], a view which encouraged their consumption in a social as opposed to a medical context. Other early varieties of alcoholic cordials were flavoured with spices and herbal ingredients which were thought to settle the stomach after excessive eating, leading to the collective name of ‘surfeit waters’ These cordials were called Surfeit Waters, which were specifically created for overindulgence.<ref>http://www.artofdrink.com/2009/02/surfeit-water.php</ref> 

Precious ingredients like [[gold]], [[pearl]]s and [[coral]] were sometimes added. These were believed to revive the spirit and to preclude disease.

==Popular Cordials==
* ''Rosa Solis'' or ''Rosolio'', probably originating in Renaissance Turin was derived from the carnivorous [[sundew]] plant. It was believed to not only invigorate the heart, but to be an aphrodisiac as well; according to the 17th century medical writer William Salmon, sundew “stirs up lust”.

* ''Royal Usquebaugh''  was a spicy concoction containing flecks of gold leaf thought to capture the sun's golden radiance. It was usually flavoured with aniseed, liquorice and saffron and sweetened with fruit sugar extracted from figs and raisins by [[maceration]]. The name derives from the Irish ''usquebaugh'', which is literally the Gaelic translation of Latin 'aqua vitae', 'the water of life'). The word whisky is also derived from the Irish usquebaugh but this was not the same as the cordial consumed in seventeenth and 18th century England and France bore no resemblance to the spirit we now call whisky. 

*''Escubac d’Angleterre'', a more down-market relative of Royal Usquebaugh without the flecks of gold leaf, but was nevertheless a popular drink. 

* ''Vespitro'', another popular liqueur d’ltalie, flavoured with anise, angelica and lemon.

==See also==
* [[Liqueur]]
* [[Tincture]]
* [[Elixir]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.historicfood.com/rosolio.htm Web page about several types of cordials]

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[[Category:Alcoholic beverages]]
[[Category:Drugs]]


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