“A solution of iron in the juice of the Golden Rennet, evaporated to a thick consistency, proves an elegant chalybeate.“
Henry Phillips, Pomarum Britannicum (1821)
Chalybeate, or chalybeate waters, are spring waters containing salts of iron. Wikipedia tells us that “early in the 17th century, chalybeate water was said to have health-giving properties and many people once promoted its qualities.” Clearly they still had similar ideas in the early 19th century.
Glass of thickened apple juice and iron, anyone? It probably counts as one of your five-a-day…