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

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

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 A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

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 university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

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

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

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 warf ...

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 ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

fraternity at Columbia Law School on January 17, 1914. He was also a member of Phi Alpha Delta 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 college, intercollegiate men's List of social fraternities and sororities, social Fraternities and sororities ...

. 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