1938 Famous New Orleans Drinks and how to mix'em (3rd printing) by Stanley Clisby Arthur

ceeded in salvaging, among other scanty possessions, a recipe for the compounding of a liquid tonic, called bitters, a recipe that had been a secret family formula for years. This particular young Creole refugee was of a distin guished French family and had been educated as an apothecary. His name was Antoine Amedee Peychaud. In the turmoil of the insurrection and the hurried exodus from San Domingo, Amedee and his young sister, Last- henie, became separated. It was not until years later when he had established himself in New Orleans, that Ae sister was located in Paris and Peychaud had her join him in his new home where subsequently she mar ried into the well-known Maurin family. A. A. Peychaud's bid for fame and popularity in the city of his adoption was founded not so much upon the quality or profusion of the drugs he dispensed over the counter of his shop (located in a building still standing at 437 Royal street) as upon his bitters, a tonic and stomachic compounded according to his secret family formula. These bitters, good for what ailed one irre spective of malady, gave an added zest to the potions of cognac brandy he served friends and others who came into his pharmacy—especially those in need of a little brandy, as well as bitters, for their stomach's sake. The fame of Peychaud's highly flavored dram of brandy spread rapidly. Consequently the bitters found a ready market in the numerous coffee houses (as liquid dispensing establishments were then called) that stood cheek by jowl in almost every street in old New Or leans. Cognac had long been a popular drink among the city's experienced bibbers, but presently customers began demanding their French brandy spiked with a

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