I have known
many who have flatter'd themselves that they knew how to be saving, and
have used old Corks on this occasion, that have spoiled as much Liquor as
has stood them in four or five Pounds, only for want of laying out three or
four Shillings. If Bottles are cork'd as they should be, it is hard to pull
out the Corks without a Screw, and to be sure to draw the Cork without
breaking, the Screw ought to go through the Cork, and then the Air must
necessarily find a Passage where the Screw has pass'd, and therefore the
Cork is good for nothing; or if a Cork has once been in a Bottle, and has
been drawn without a Screw, yet that Cork will turn musty as soon as it is
exposed to the Air, and will communicate its ill Flavour to the Bottle
where it is next put, and spoil the Drink that way.
In the choice of Corks, chuse those that are soft, and clear from Specks,
and lay them in Water a day or two before you use them; but let them dry
again before you put them in the Bottles, lest they should happen to turn
mouldy: with this care you may make good Drink, and preserve it to answer
your expectation.
In the bottling of Drink, you may also observe, that the top and middle of
the Hogshead is the strongest, and will sooner rise in the Bottles than the
bottom: And when once you begin to bottle a Vessel of any Liquor, be sure
not to leave it till all is complcated, for else you will have some of one
Taste, and some of another.
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