flippen heck. .haven't heard the word or thought of it in eons. There was always a bottle knocking about in the scullery , never a full one ,always with a couple of inches of water in it. As kids we knew to leave it alone as it tasted flat and off. It was obviously a grown ups tiffle.
The recipe was probably brought back from overseas by the empire troops ,there is a region and river called Kali in India and the potassium based water is good for the old delhi belly.