Commercially made carbonated drinks and cordials have been available in New Zealand since the 1830s. These labels show a range of drinks commonly available since then – some were still around in the early 2000s. Simmonds & Osborne was a Wellington-based drinks manufacturer.
Some of these drinks are easily made at home. Here is a recipe for lemon barley water from Tony Simpson's 1999 book A distant feast:
100 grams pearl barley; 2 lemons, zest and juice; Sugar to taste; 1 litre boiling water
Rinse the barley and put in a pot with all other ingredients. Boil for 5 minutes and then strain. Serve chilled.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference:
Eph-A-BEVERAGE-Soft-Simmonds
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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