Alice couldn't help but give an amused smirk at the toast, but preferred to simply give a not entirely disagreeable shrug. But frankly, a sip of the vile stuff was enough for Alice; she couldn't prevent herself from making a face at the taste of it. Setting her mug down, she looked up at Jack, raising a quizzical eyebrow at him. "How do you stand the taste of it?" she inquired. "It tastes rather like one might imagine tree bark to."

Of course she didn't have to imagine; one of the children at Houndsditch had complained of a stomachache after devouring some of the stuff, and had confessed to Alice what it had tasted like.