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tion of the firm which uses it.
In
the realm of commercial Cognacs
the names Hennessy, Hines, Denis Monnier and a few others are
more to he trusted than many stars and all the initials which cus–
tomarily follow the names of British admirals.
The entire matter of after dinner liqueurs resolves itself into one
of personal taste and preference and neither advice nor instructions
in
their use seem altogether valid. The sweet, highly aromatic
cordial, generaliy speaking, is a survival of a more florid -and rococo
age of drinking and manners, and their use
in
the United States
at the moment is almost entirely confined to infusion in mixed
drinks, but it doesn't take any graybeard to recall a period when
they were held in high and universal esteem and their service in
elaborate profusion was a hallmark of gentility and sophistication.
The trans-Atlantic liners of t)Venty-five years ago were probably
the last great stronghold of the liqueur. At the same time no dinner
in London or Paris was complete without the appearance of an
almost overwhelming variety of sweet cordials with flavors deriving
from every known flower and herb and a few unheard of by anyone:
Benedictine, Chartreuse, Cointreau, Kiimmel, Cura<1ao, Triple Sec,
Creme de Cacao, Creme de Cassis, Maraschino, Prunella, Peach
Brandy, Grand Marnier, Danziger Goldwasser, Flora Delle Alpi,
Kirsch, Drambuie, Anise and Swedish Punch. They came in every
variety of bottle, tall, squat and flattened, globular, square, octag–
onal, fluted, beribboned, chaste and plain, austere and fanciful.
Today the run of liqueurs has subsided almost to the vanishing
point although a green or white mint frappe or glass of
Coi~t
eau
is occasionally seen.
Nine Americans out of ten who do not order a highball after
dinner call for Cognac, American brandy, Armagnac or one of the
related eaux de vie of the family of grape spirits.
It is with the greatest infrequency, nowadays, that private
drink-
95: Night