1912 The Buffet Blue Book bu John H Considine

AFl'ER THE CORK IS DRAWN.

Nearly a half century ago, C. W. Abbott & Co. of Baltimore, Md., began making bitterss-– and the success has been so pronounced, Ab– bott's Bitters have come to be the proverbial household word. Now, there are bitters in name and bitters in fact. The Abbott variet~· remains classified under the latter, and more dignified head . They are composed of herbs, barks, roots, spices-selected with judicious care, and compounded properly. Their p1.1r– poses are without limit-but their shining popularity reposes in their relationship to cocktails. , Pretty nearly everybody who likes a drink. likes a cocktail-and whoever likes a cocktail likes Abbott's Bitters. That is the chain-and there isn't a weak or t1ncertain link in it. The real secret -of a cocl{tail is that nipping flavor that pleases the palate, satisfies the mind and lulls the soul-maybe. At any rate, it is dif– ferent from the matter-of-fact straight drink. It plays tag with the sentiments, and puts the appetite on parade-provided the bitters are right. And-if the bitters are wrong, then the cocktail becomes a miserable burlesque. It disappoints deprives; and then it does some other· things. Just as beauty is an impossi– bility without a sparkle to the eye, so is a cocktail a dead march unless the bitters within its depths have been selected judi– ciously. Perhaps all this really doesn't say anything-but it gropes after the idea; and, besides, nobody could ever exactly analyze a cocktail-although millions have tried! But just because a cocktail is a cocktail– and is essentially difl'erent from all · other drinks-so are the right bitters the correct bitters, and they are materially difl'erent from the wrong bitters. The flavor in a nut-tl1e perfume of a flower-the 1 harmony of a song .. -that's the example. The bitters are the something to the cocktail that causes jovial folk to smack their lips and lick tlleir cl101)s -and order some more. And on that nicety of purpose, ·Abbott's Bitters repose-whict1 ought to be sufflcient-Mida's Criterion, Jan. 1, 1912.

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