Who nowadays makes a Bishop? A Bishop was a winter warmer popular in the days when travellers came to coaching inns desparately needing to be warmed up. It reminds us of Dickensian England, with people wrapped in mufflers against the cold winters that the island suffered in that period. It is not a mediaeval drink, but developed in the post-mediaeval period. There are many different bishop recipes, so I will give you a general one.
Bishops
The term Bishop derives not from the drink's popularity with boozy bishops, but from the fact that it is generally red, like a bishop's robe.Take a bottle of red wine and four citrus fruits. Being a folk recipe, the precise fruit is irrelevant. It can be oranges, lemons, limes or citron. Cut up the citrus, leaving the rind on it, as the rind is part of the recipe. Place in a bowl and pour in the wine. Pour a pint of hot water into the bowl and place a muslin spice bag in it. This can contain whatever spices take your fancy. Cloves were popular, but nutmeg was greatly esteemed by those who could afford it. It was once very expensive, but became more affordable later on. Cinnamon makes a tasty brew. Leave the dish to cool to a tolerable level while the spices diffuse and drink in glasses. It is not a good idea to boil the water, as alcohol boils off at 80 degrees.
There were variants on this brew. Cardinal was made with claret rather than any red wine. Pope was made only with champagne or Hungarian Tokay. Smoking bishop used baked apples which were marinated in red wine for a day and pricked with cloves until the hot water was poured on. This gave a richer flavour. In smoking Bishop the wine was poured into the brew on the day before consumption, and a bottle of port added before the hot water was poured into the mixture.
Negus
Negus is almost the same as a Bishop. It was named after Colonel Negus, the Member of Parliament for Ipswich.It differs from bishop in that the rind is finely grated. One recipe for Negus, is as follows: Take one pint of wine or grape juice. Take a quarter pound of lump sugar and one lemon. Rub the lemon into the sugar until the yellow has disappeared. Place into a bowl with an ounce of grated nutmeg. Squeeze in the juice of the lemon. Boil a pint oif water and pour it into the bowl. Drink when cool enough.
Caudle
This was a drink popular with women in childbirth. Like all folk recipes it varied with the individual who was making it. The recipe involves taking four ounces of honey, or sugar as might be the case nowadays, and adding it to a pinch of oatmeal. Then take a pint of brown ale and pour it into the bowl. Add no water, but gently heat until pleasantly warm. The sick were often caudled to bed. Obviously, if there was no brown ale, porter, strong dark ale would suffice. The best known modern porter is guinness. Porter was also known in other parts of the country as stout.
I have used the traditional imperial measures, as these are the ones in the recipes. It will be necessary to adjust them into metric units.
Bibliography
Traditional British Honey Drinks, by Francis Beswick, Bee books New and Old, 2003
Francis Beswick - Religion, history and horticulture are my three great interests and I spend much of my time on them.
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