1939 The Gentleman's Companion volume II Beeing an Exotic Drinking Book

THE GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION

comes in the slender decorative bottle we see back of most good soda fountains-but is not quite so pungent. Soda fountain lime syrup also would do in a pinch. We have approximated it with fine results by diluting it with equal amounts of water. ... Take a big saucer cham– pagne glass, put in 1 jigger either of dry or old Tom gin, r tsp gomme syrup or sugar, Yz tsp-to taste-of lime syrup or lime cordial. Fill up with chilled plain water, add r ice cube and thin slice of big green lime. Don't use soda water, please. GIN & BITTERS, the GIN PAHIT -PRONOUNCED PlE-EET-of JAVA, the "PINK GIN" of INDIA & POINTS EASTWARD where BRITANNIA RULES This of course has long since gone round the world, but it forms such an important part of men's drinking life in the colonies that we append it here. Either dry or old Tom gin is proper, and the latter appeals most to us. Take a thin, stemmed cocktail glass. Shake in 4 or S dashes of Angostura, tip the glass like the tower of Pisa and twirl it between thumb and fingers. Whatever Angostura sticks to the glass through capillary attraction is precisely the right amount, although a lot of old India hands whose stomachs are lax find that a lot more Angostura than that is in order to stimulate appetite. Gently pour off the extra bitters that do not cling. Fill glass with gin. That's all. Super– fluous bitters go back in the bottle, on the floor, or out the port hole or window-depending upon who, where and what we are. 1 .W.e shall never forget the courteous open-hearted wardroorr: hos– pitality of the British navy in Indian waters, and Commander Livesey ~together with his charming Australian wife-least of all. Along w1.th another .very mentionable discovery Livesey's head-bearer-a High-Caste high-binder in the Mohammedan priesthood on feast days, was a wizard with the shaker.... Livesey's words were: "We don't prescribe this just before target practice, gentlemen." COMMANDER LIVESEY'S GIN-BLIND