1925 Drinks Long & Short by Nina Toye and A H Adair

Drinks—Long and Short

5

in the hand, leaven its lumpishness with an absinthe cocktail, a Green Devil or a Kingston cocktail, and watch the result. Concerning the menu, as a general rule the richer the food the stronger and brighter the cocktail, and vice versa. There is, you see, more in this question of choice than meets the eye. Many a good dinner has been ruined by the wrong cocktail. The proof the pudding may be in the eating, but the proof of the cocktail is not only in the pleasure in sipping its subtle deliciousness, but also in the enlivening,slightly exhilarating effect it has upon the drinker. Considered in its relation to the dinner or supper party, it is as the patch on a powdered beauty's cheek,the deft touch that gives piquancy to a frock,the opening phrase that rivets one's attention to a story, the high light in a picture. But the cocktail needs no apology. Nothing succeeds like success, and the ^success of the cocktail has long since been recognised by those who use it with discrimination in its proper place. It is not the mission ofthe cocktail to allay thirst or to while away the afternoon or evening hours. For that purpose exists the legion oflong drinks, alcoholic or otherwise. For leisurely consumption during a hot after noon or eveninga gin rickey or mintjulep,iced tea or coffee,a rum punch,afruit or other long drink