David Augustus Embury (November 3, 1886 – July 6, 1960) was an American tax attorney,

mixologist A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but ...

and author of ''

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks ''The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks'' is a book about cocktails by David A. Embury, first published in 1948. The book is noteworthy for its witty, highly opinionated and conversational tone, as well as its categorization of cocktails into two main ty ...

'' (1948), an encyclopedia of the 20th century cocktail.

Life and career

David Augustus Embury was born in Pine Woods, New York on November 3, 1886. Embury graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1908 and taught high school for five years. He enrolled in

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1912, graduating in 1916. He enlisted in the photographic branch of the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

in 1917, attaining the rank of sergeant first class before being demoted to private, and later commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was a senior tax partner with the Manhattan law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle. He became a member of the Acacia fraternity at Columbia Law School on January 17, 1914. He was also a member of

Phi Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International ( or P.A.D.) is the largest professional law fraternity in the United States. Founded in 1902, P.A.D. has since grown to 717 established pre-law, law, and alumni chapters and over 330,000 initiated m ...

Law Fraternity. He was the first Acacian to become chairman of the

North American Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting ...

. He served as chairman of the National Interfraternity Conference from November 29, 1946, to November 28, 1947. During this time he vocally opposed desegregation, believing it to be the work of communists.

''The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks''

Embury decided to pursue his love of bartending in the late 1940s, authoring the book ''The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks'' in 1948. The book is noteworthy for its highly opinionated, witty and conversational tone, as well as its categorization of cocktails and its categorization of ingredients. It also contains sections on glassware, bar equipment, a discussion of several different types of bitters, and much other minutiae. He includes in the book a recipe for a cocktail called an "Acacia", referencing the Acacia fraternity. Embury had "never been engaged in any of the manifold branches of the liquor business" and was experienced "entirely as a consumer and as a shaker-upper of drinks for the delectation of my guests".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Embury, David A. 1886 births 1960 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American food writers Cornell University alumni Lawyers from New Rochelle, New York American cookbook writers American male non-fiction writers Columbia Law School alumni 20th-century American male writers