14 / 106
bottles should fit freely in the tubes up to the neck.
The ice box, which is to h old the broken ice, should
have a false bottom of perforated wood, as an ice
pick, even in the h ands o f a careful man, is liable
to do a lot of damage . Everything below the
b ench should be open, a nd a well-made box for
empty bottles kept where it can be conveniently
reached. The floor should be kept clean and
drained, a nd covered wit h sla t work. The run
behind the average ba r is usually unclean and damp,
and there is no excuse for such a condition o f affairs,
which is caused by either poor d rainage or careless–
ness on the p art of the bar-te nd er.
If
the space behind the under part of the bar
is dark it should be lighted ar t ificially, a n d the ex tra
expense will be more tha n made up by the saving
resulting from less breakages. The bench facing
sh ould be of corrugated meta l with a p itch sufficient
to make drainage an easy matter. Don 't forget
to h ave the receptacle for powdered sugar and your
fruits, etc., in a place that will be con venient to
reach as well as dry.
\¥ h en mixing, the wisest plan for the nov ice is lo
pour. ingredients in t he shaker first and afterwards
add the ice, as t hen a mistake can easily be rectified.
Great care should be taken to a void using snowy
ice, which dissolves too quickly a nd gives the
beverage a watery flavour. H ow to hold your
shaker, and strain, is bette r explained b y the photo
on cover and
frontispiece.
As to s tirring a cocktail
this is clone in a large bar glass (pint size) b y stir–
ring briskly with a long bar spoon. This practice
was not in much use in New York j us t before
America went dry, in fact the only time it is neces–
sary to s tir a cocktail is when you arc mixin g
drinks containing an effervescent liquid