Just as we do today, people during the Gilded Age enjoyed outdoor activities and entertaining. In the absence of air conditioning, lemonade was an especially refreshing summer beverage, served at events such as Strawberry Festivals, Ice Cream Socials and picnics. 

An 1891 book called Dining Room and Kitchen by Mrs. Grace Townsend is a veritable “picnic how-to” for the era. In order to bring lemonade to a picnic, Mrs. Townsend suggests squeezing lemons into a glass jar, adding sugar, and stirring into a thin syrup. She goes on to suggest serving the lemonade by stirring a spoonful of this syrup into each glass of water. An ingenious method well before the days of ready-to-drink bottles of Snapple and Country Time lemonade! 

When looking to recreate a lemonade recipe for a recent Gilded Age Cookbook event, I found a similar recipe from an 1895 Table Talk magazine that uses a sugar syrup as a base, but then adds a bottle of mineral water for an effervescent kick. The name was intriguing: “Apollinaris Lemonade.” According to Wikipedia, “Apollinaris is a naturally sparkling mineral water from a spring in Bad Neuenahr, Germany. Discovered in 1852, it was popularized in England and on the Continent and became the leading table-water of its time until about World War II.” Today the source and Apollinaris brand belong to Coca-Cola, which acquired it from Cadbury-Schweppes in 2006. 

This is not surprising as places with spring waters were especially popular as restorative resorts during the Gilded Age. Not only were these places surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery, but it was thought that spring water was a powerful tonic, diuretic and mildly therapeutic, applicable to all kinds of ailments, including dyspepsia (indigestion), stomach and bowel diseases, rheumatic, neuralgic, kidney and urinary disorders. As a result it was enjoyed by itself and mixed with other beverages. 

In any case, it is a delicious and interesting addition to lemonade! I couldn’t find the Apollinaris brand, so I used Gerolsteiner Sparkling Water. This worked great and was thoroughly enjoyed by all my taste testers!

 Sparkling Lemonade

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups water
• 3 lemons (and the zest of one)
• 1 bottle (liter) cold sparkling mineral water (like Apollinaris or Gerolsteiner)

1. Place sugar and 2 cups water in a small saucepan. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the zest of one of the lemons. Bring to a boil, then simmer until slightly syrupy (about 2 minutes).
2. Allow the mixture to cool, then strain it and add the juice of the three lemons. 
3.  Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, add the bottle of sparkling mineral water and stir to combine. Pour into glasses filled with ice and garnish with a sprig of mint if desired.
4. This could also be made into a delightful cocktail by adding vodka or gin. Enjoy!