The New International Encyclopædia/Ratafia

RATAFIA (Fr. ratafia, from Malay araq, from Ar. ‘araq, arrack, from ‘araqa, to sweat + Malay tāfĭa, spirits distilled from molasses, Eng. taffy). A cordial flavored with fruits or the kernels of fruits. The name is used generically to include several varieties of fruit liqueurs. Procope, the ancient master distiller of Paris, includes under this term liqueurs, or syrups as we should say, of cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, apricots, peaches, and other fruits. He it was who first proposed the pressure of the fruits without infusing them entire. Some years afterwards Breard, one of the chiefs of the fruitery of Louis XIV., gave these (white) liqueurs the name Hypoteques, to distinguish them from other ratafias. Consult Mew and Ashton, Drinks of the World (New York, 1892). See Liqueur.