1930 The Art of Drinking What and How by Dexter Mason

THE

ART

OF DRINKING

HOW TO MIX COCKTAILS

(With a pol o g i es to Charles Lamb's Popular Fallacies.)

A man can never make good cocktails unless he is satisfied, nay positive, that no man breathing can make better. I can, and do make good cocktails because I do noth– ing else, and this is my way of doing it. I retire to a solitary corner, or better still Jock myself up in the pantry with my para– phernalia at hand. These are what I usu– ally have: a large cocktail shaker, an orange squeezer, plenty of cracked ice (many a good cocktail is ruined because there is not enough ice in the shaker), a measuring glass, and the necessary ingredients for the drink. I allow myself ten minutes to blend the proportions, measuring them carefully. Then I add the ice, and shake the concoction vigorously until the shaker actually steams with cold; and then Kanga– roos ! how beautiful the cocktails taste.

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