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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
Ten