1895 The Mixicologist (First Edition) by C F Lawlor

THE MIXICOLOGIST. IIO scrupulously clean, and every morning three or four glasses of beer should be drawn off and thrown away. Pipes should be cleansed every week with a strong solution of sal soda and hot water. In opening still wines the top of tlie capsule should be eut, leaving the shilling métal below to forin an ornamental band. Wipe off the top with a napkin, and, if you serve it, pour with the right liaud, holding the bottle in the center of the bulge, pressing lightly with the thumb and fingers. This is more graceful than grasping it impetuously by the neck. It is a custom, more in America than elsewhere, for gentlemen to pour out their own liquors, especially if in a party. In opening Champagne and other effervescent drinks, including malt liquors, eut the band below the cork with the nippers, and the wires will corne off easily by a twist of the hand. It will be neces- sary to use the corkscrew in case of malt liquors not confined by the patent rubber cork, and there is great danger of cutting the left hand in case of breakage, if, as is generally the case, the bottle is grasped by the neck. It should be lield firrnly with the left hand near the bottom of the bulge, and the cork should be drawn steadily with the right, and without shaking the bottle. There is no danger by this method.