Hippocras facts for kids
Hippocrates's sleeve being used to make hippocras wine
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| Type | Wine mixed with sugar and spices |
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| Country of origin | Roman Empire |
| Ingredients | Wine, cinnamon, spices, sugar |
Hippocras (Catalan: Pimentes de clareya; Latin: vīnum Hippocraticum), sometimes spelled hipocras or hypocras, is a special drink made from wine mixed with sugar and different spices. It often includes cinnamon and was sometimes served warm.
To make it, spices are soaked in sweetened wine for about a day. Then, the spices are strained out using a special cone-shaped cloth filter bag. This filter is called a manicum hippocraticum or Hippocratic sleeve. The name comes from the ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates, who lived in the 5th century BC and first used a similar filter for water.
Contents
History of Hippocras
Ancient Roots and Medieval Popularity
Spiced wine was a favorite drink in the ancient Roman Empire. Writers like Pliny the Elder and Apicius wrote about it. Later, in the 12th century, a spiced wine called "pimen" was mentioned by the writer Chrétien de Troyes.
By the 13th century, the city of Montpellier was famous for trading spiced wines with England. The first recipes for spiced wine appeared in the late 1200s or early 1300s. Around 1390, these recipes started being called ipocras or ypocras. This name was likely a tribute to the famous doctor Hippocrates.
Why People Loved Hippocras
Hippocras became super popular and people believed it had many good effects on their health. In the 16th century, people thought foods had "cold" or "hot," and "dry" or "wet" qualities. They tried to balance these qualities in their meals. Wine was seen as cold and dry. So, warm ingredients like sugar, ginger, and cinnamon were added to it, creating hypocras.
Cookbooks and medical guides from that time both shared recipes for Hippocras. Here's a traditional recipe from 1631:
- Take 10 pounds of good Red wine or White wine.
- Add 1½ ounces of cinnamon, 2 scruples of clove, 4 scruples each of cardamom and grains of paradise (a type of spice).
- Also add 3 drams of ginger.
- Crush the spices roughly and let them soak in the wine for 3 or 4 hours.
- Then, add 1½ pounds of white sugar.
- Pour the mixture through the special filter (the sleeve) several times until it's clear.
Changes Over Time
From the 16th century onwards, the drink was usually spelled hippocras or hipocras in English. Original recipes were used until the 1800s, when the drink became less popular.
Sugar was considered a medicine back then, and the spices used in Hippocras varied. The main spices were cinnamon, ginger, clove, grains of paradise, and long pepper. An old English text even says that sugar was only for important people (lords), while honey was used for everyone else.
After the 17th century, spiced wines in France often included fruits like apples, oranges, and almonds. Some even had musk or ambergris (a waxy substance from whales, used in perfumes). In England, a 1723 recipe for red hippocras included milk and brandy.
Hippocras was a favorite drink during the medieval and Elizabethan eras. Doctors even suggested it to help with digestion. It was served at most big parties and banquets all over Europe.
Famous Fans and Decline
This drink was highly valued during the Middle Ages. In France, it was known as the favorite drink of the famous baron Gilles de Rais, who reportedly drank many bottles every day. Later, King Louis XIV of France also enjoyed it. Back then, Hippocras was a very special gift, like jam or fruit preserves. However, it slowly went out of style and was mostly forgotten by the 18th century.
Hippocras Today
Today, hypocras is still made in small amounts in the Ariège and Haute-Loire areas of France.
Since 1996, people in Basel, Switzerland, celebrate New Year's morning with a tradition called "Aadringgede." The "Dreizack" fountain in "Freiestrasse" is filled with hippocras, which they call "Hypokras" in their local language. In Basel, it's a winter tradition to drink Hypokras and eat the famous Basler Läggerli biscuits with it.
Hippocras might have even inspired the Spanish drink sangria. While sangria is sweeter, it often uses similar spices like cinnamon, ginger, and pepper.
See also
In Spanish: Hipocrás para niños
