69 / 96
"She ordered coffee, and afterwards chasse-cafe." 1800.
Pousse Cafe
There are two schools of thought regarding the nam
ing and spelling of aPousse Caf^ but only one regarding
its goodness. Properly made it becomes a dru^ with
more rings than an old-fashioned Barnum &Bailey cir
cus. Here we have a post-prandial drink made of layers
of variously colored cordials—the heaviest poured first
into the serving glass and the following layers gently and
skillfully achieved one ring at a time with the aid of a
spoon. The lightest liqueur, usually cognac, is poured on
last.
The name Pousse cafS is said to have been derived from
chasse cafS, literally "chase coffee" or a "coffee chaser," a
potion of liquor taken after a meal ostensibly to remove
the taste of coffee, tobacco, or what have you. The term,
usually shortened to chasse, was applied as a rule to
brandy, crime de menthe, or like cordials, but in time
became definitely attached to the ringed drink of various
cordials, now known as Pousse cafe.
For another (and probably more authentic) version:
pouce, French for "inch" or "thumb," indicates that in
the early days of the original concocting of the drink, an
inch or pouce of red sirup was first poured in the glass;
then a pouce of Curasao, then a pouce of chartreuse, and
so on to the final pouce of brandy that topped it. Thus it
became a pouce cafi or "inch" drink, until finally the
word pouce was corrupted into pousse, a French word
with an entirely different meaning.
"So one glass of cognac neat, as a chasse (to more things than
claret)." 1857.
Sixty-nine