The original Pepto recipe: Chianti, cherries and herbs

A pharmacist in Tuscany recently discovered an 18th c. recipe for a digestive miracle drug. The pharmacy was established by the current pharmacist’s ancestors in 1715, and apparently there are all kinds of manuscripts lying around or wedged in shelves.

“My ancestors left several manuscripts with formulas for digestive drinks, but this one struck me because of its ingredients. I knew it had strong scientific basis,” said pharmacist Giovanni De Munari, who found the old recipe from behind a small shelf in his Tuscany pharmacy.

Upon finding the recipe, De Munari brewed the beverage, and came up with a “low-calorie, highly digestive alcoholic infusion which tasted delicious.”

I’m not sure how wine, cherries and honey turn out to be low-cal, and red wine always makes me feel like someone took a strigil to my stomach lining the next morning, but the tasting delicious bit I can believe.