University of Virginia Library

OF THE STREET SALE OF PEPPERMINT-WATER.

Perhaps the only thing which can be called a
cordial or a liqueur sold in the streets (if we
except elder wine), is peppermint-water, and of
this the sale is very limited. For the first 15
or 20 years of the present century, I was told
by one who spoke from a personal knowledge,
"a pepperminter" had two little taps to his keg,
which had a division in the interior. From one
tap was extracted "peppermint-water;" from
the other, "strong peppermint-water." The one
was at that time 1d. a glass, the other from 2d. to 4d., according to the size of the glass. With
the "strong" beverage was mixed smuggled
spirit, but so strongly impregnated with the
odour of the mint, that a passer-by could not
detect the presence of the illicit compound.
There are six persons selling peppermint-water
in the winter, and only half that number in the
summer. The trade is irregular, as some pursue
it only of a night, and generally in the street mar-
kets; others sell at Billingsgate, and places of
great traffic, when the traffic is being carried on.
They are stationary for awhile, but keep shifting
their ground. The vendors generally "distilled
their own mint," when the sale was greater, but
within these six or eight years they have pur-
chased it at a distilling chemist's, and have
only prepared it for sale. Water is added to the
distilled liquid bought of the chemist, to in-
crease the quantity; but to enhance the heat of
the draught — which is a draw to some buyers —
black pepper (unground), or ginger, or, but
rarely, capsicums, are steeped in the beverage.
The peppermint-water is lauded by the vendors,
when questioned concerning it, as an excellent
stomachic; but nothing is said publicly of its
virtues, the cry being merely, "Pep-permint
water, a halfpenny a glass."

The sellers will generally say that they distil
the peppermint-water themselves, but this is
not now commonly the case. The process, how-
ever, is simple enough. The peppermint
is gathered just as it is bursting into flower, and
the leaves and buds are placed in a tub, with
ust water enough to cover them. This steeping
continues 24 hours, and then a still is filled
three-parts full, and the water is "over" drawn
very slowly.

The price at the chemist's is 1s. a quart for
the common mint-water; the street price is ½d. a glass, containing something short of the eighth
of a pint. What costs 1s., the street-seller dis-
poses of for 2s., so realising the usual cent. per
cent.

To take 2s. is now accounted "a tidy day's
work;" and calculating that four "pepper-
minters" take that amount the year round, Sun-
days excepted, we find that nearly 125l. is spent
annually in peppermint-water and 900 gallons
of it consumed every year in the streets of
London.

The capital required is, keg, 3s. 6d., or jar,
2s. (for they are used indifferently); four glasses,
1s.; towel, 4d., and stock-money, 4s.; or, in all,
about 8s. The "water"-keg, or jar, is carried
by the vendor, but sometimes it is rested on a
large stool carried for the purpose. A distilling
apparatus, such as the street-sellers used, was
worth about 10s. The vendors are of the same
class of street-sellers as the ginger-beer people.