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FOREWORD
Much has been written, much has been said on the art
of blending and mixing the combination of liquors known
as the Cocktail. Many hundreds of recipes have from time
to time over the past century been published by world-
famous Cocktail Bartenders, and manj' have been found
after comparison, most conflicting to the Public and
Bartender ahke. Following requests from many of our
members a Committee was formed from the Elected
Council, under the Chairmanship of the President, who,for
many months in their spare time,delved,explored,checked
and compared many authoritative works, ancient and
modern, coupled with the U.K.B.G. file of nearty 8,000
recipes, and have selected what they believe to be the
original recipes of the better known and mostly-used drinks.
It is known that some Bartenders have added other
ingredients to the original recipes, such as various bitters
and the white of eggs, which may or may not improve the
drink,but which is conflicting to the customer and confusing
to the apprentice Bartender.
Many of our older members will remember the writings
of James E. Hickejq a regular contributor to "The
Bartender" who in June, 1937, wrote; "That he was
recently given an order for a Detroiter Cocktail" and
went on to say: "Since my knowledge of Detroit is
confined to a visit to the Ford factory, 1 knew of no recipe
for this mixture. Inquiry developed that it was to be made
of Lemon Juice, Apricot Brandy and Gin, this same recipe
is also known as the'Hop Toad'and'Bull Frog '. 1 have
seen it listed dozens of times under various titles which have
long since been forgotten. This instance only serves to
underline the real necessity for a standard international
guide to the popular mixtures so that we shall not be
plagued for ever with this constant duplication of titles".
This confusion has continued with the years and we now
hope this book will help towards the standardisation of
mixed drinks and fill a long-felt need. The reader will