Love Potions

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The Love Philtre by John William Waterhouse





Love Potion #9
One night I prepared this punch for a party but told no one what was in it. By the end of the evening, one normally reserved and long-married couple was kissing passionately in a corner. A friend called me the next day and said she'd been "all over" her boyfriend on the way home; she asked what I'd put in the punch.

This recipes calls for herbal tinctures that you will find at a health food store. A tip: You will get more juice out of your oranges if you dip them in hot water before squeezing them. Serves about 20.

2 bottles of white rum
2/3 liter of dry white wine
1 cup Triple Sec
juice of 10 oranges
juice of 6 lemons
20-ounce can of pineapple chunks, drained
1 cup of sugar
2 vanilla beans, split
2 nutmegs, ground
2-ounces of muira puama tincture, preferably in a base of vegetable glycerin and alcohol
1-2 ounces of damiana tincture
2 whole oranges studded with cloves
a handful of fresh or dried rose petals


Place the alcohol, juices, pineapple, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, muira puama, and damiana in a large punch bowl and stir well until sugar is dissolved.
(Never make your aphrodisiac preparations in metal pots or bowls; the minerals that leach from them may react with the plant's active ingredient.)
Carefully float the clove-studded oranges in the punch, and immediately before serving sprinkle with rose petals.
~from Cynthia Mervis Watson, M.D.
Love Potions






Aphrodisia: A Passion Potion
1 pinch Rosemary
2 pinches Thyme
2 tsp. Black Tea
1 pinch Coriander
3 fresh Mint leaves (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
5 fresh Rosebud petals (or 1 tsp. dried)
5 fresh Lemon tree leaves (1 tsp. dried lemon peel)
3 pinches Nutmeg
3 pieces Orange peel
Place all ingredients into teapot. Boil three cups or so of water and add to the pot. Sweeten with honey, if desired. Serve hot.
~Scott Cunningham


Aphrodisia Brew
3 Parts Rose petals
1 Part Each
Clove
Nutmeg
Lavender
Ginger
Make in the usual way, preferably in an earthen pot. Add this mixture to tea, or serve alone to increase the passions.
~Scott Cunningham