1876 The Bar-Tenders' Guide or How to Mix all kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks by Jerry Thomas

PEEFACE.

In all agns of tho 'w orld, and in all countries, men have in dulged in"so cial drinks." Xhey Lave al ways possess ed themselves ofsome popu lar beverage apart from water and those of the breakfast and tea table. Whether it is judicious that m a n k i n d should con

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tinue to indulge in such things, or whether it would be wiser to abstain from all enjoyments of that chai-acter, it is not our province to decide. We leave that question to the moral philosopher. We simply contend that a relish for "social drinks" is universal; that those drinks o.xist in greater variety in the United States than in any other country in tho ■world; and that he, therefore, ■who proposes to impart to these drinks not only the most palatable but the most wholesome characteristics of which they may be made susceptible, is a genuine public benefactor. That is exactly our object in introducing this little volume to the public. We do not propose to persuade any man to drink, for instance, a punch, or a julep, or a cocktail, who has never happened to make the acquaint ance of those refreshing articles under circnmstances calc\ilated to induce more intimate relations; but we do propose to instruct those whose '• in timate relations" in question render them somewhat fastidious, in the daintiest fashions thereunto pertaining. - We very well remember seeing one day in Uondon, in the rear of the