To Make A Cold Posett

This recipe for a 'cold posset' comes from around 1700, a period when possets had begun to evolve from earlier hot, spiced drinks thickened with eggs or cream, towards more delicate, curdled dessert drinks enjoyed by the gentry. Possets were often associated with celebrations and were thought to have medicinal properties. The inclusion of exotic ingredients like musk (here substituted) and rosewater signals the wealth and sophistication of the recipe’s owners. The original manuscript 'V.b.273' is representative of early 18th-century English household receipts, where cooks and housekeepers recorded their most prized formulations both for daily use and special occasions.

Historically, this posset would have been made using a brass or copper saucepan over the hearth fire, with wooden spoons and strainers for mixing and separating the solids. Lemon juice would be extracted using a citrus press or by hand. The mixture would be poured through a fine cloth or sieve (possibly into a special posset pot) to remove the rosemary and any curds forming a 'posset boble'. Old-fashioned posset bowls, typically two-handled and decorative, were used for serving—sometimes with the mixture poured dramatically from a height to create a frothy head.