This book has been written as much for the ordinary gentleman of good taste, as for the connoisseur or the epicure or the gourmet of drink. It is written, not with the crude and rough hand of any careless bartender, but with the fastidious and delicate hand of one who has served drinks to Princes, Magnates and Senators of many wealthy nations.
When that old vintner, Noah, first squeezed the precious grape into the cup, and throwing back his head, felt the vigorous wine-drops trickling deliciously down his parched throat, a new art was born, fostered and loved by Kings and Rajahs, flourishing in the courts of Emperors and Khans. And even today, if you observe in any street of any city, a man, more imaginative, more bold, more firm than his fellow men, you may depend upon it, he is descended direct from old Noah.
Today, that Art of creating exquisite drinks to match exquisite moods is gasping on its death-bed, and the dull ogre, Puritanism, supplanting the Skeleton, sits gloating by the bed-side, waiting eagerly to hear the last death-rattle.
If this volume succeeds in preserving, even a little while longer, that ancient and much beloved Art, the writer will be happy.
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Here's to a long life and a merry one,
A quick death and an easy one,
A pretty girl and a true one,
A full bottle and another one.
