Popped into the D.R. Harris store in St James Street today as I was looking to get some toothpaste and happened to be in the area. While there I asked to get some of their famous 'Pick Me Up' tincture for the morning after, and was shocked to discover that it had been discontinued!
The Pick me Up made from a combination of herbs and spices, and containing a small quantity of both ammonia and alcohol, has been produced by this quaint little Pharmacists for the last 160 years, patronized by the great and not so great living around the are or passing through, this remedy became quite famous and popular as an excellent morning after cure, and was documented as having been a favorite of Oscar Wilde amongst others.
Apparently, the remedy that traditionally was consumed by the regular members of the st james clubs in the early morning,was becoming increasingly popular with a younger audience of clubbers and heavy drinkers, tuned into its restorative properties, this lead to concerns over the ingredients and an enquiry. Following which the quantities of ammonia and alcohol within the mixture were deemed to be such that it should not be sold over the counter at an establishment that did not possess an alcohol licence.
Im not sure if this is a sad thing or not, on the one hand it seems a great pity that such an institution has been brought down my modern day Politically Correct Meddling, on the other hand, have all the customers for the last 160 years essentially been buying a mild sort of Bloody Mary? Either way its gone now.
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As a retailer for D. R. Harris products we agree. We used to buy the "Pick Me Up" for years and years and - honestly - offered it to our dinner guests as a digestive on ice. It was a great success and for sure beats most of the common herbal liqueur even if it was meant as a medicine. We miss our "Pick Me Up"! Meanwhile we use instead a bitter liqueur from teutonic origin called "Mampe Halb und Halb" (Made in Berlin).
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