Balm Wine

This recipe comes from a late 17th-century English manuscript, a period when homemade wines and cordials were commonly prepared in wealthy households. Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), cherished both for its gentle, uplifting aroma and supposed medicinal properties, was a popular ingredient in kitchen gardens and home apothecaries alike. Balm wine would have been enjoyed as both a restorative tonic and a convivial social beverage, part of the rich tradition of herb-infused drinks in early modern England. Such recipes were often kept in household recipe books, reflecting both the tastes and the self-sufficiency of their compilers. The emphasis on sugar also hints at the increasing but still expensive availability of this luxury commodity during the Restoration period.

In the 17th century, this balm wine would have been made over open hearths, using large iron or copper pots for boiling the sugary liquid. The mixture would be cooled in a wooden tub or earthenware vessel and fermented in wooden barrels (often oak) or stoneware jars. Balm was gathered fresh from the garden and bruised with a wooden pestle or muddler. Fermentation relied on natural barm (brewer’s yeast, often scooped from ale brewing). Bottling used heavy glass bottles, sealed with cork and sometimes wax. Skimming was performed with long-handled spoons, and stirring with wooden paddles. Bottling required a steady hand to transfer the young wine and to add the sugar for conditioning.