The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks dinner or mid-afternoon drinks accompanying cake or chocolate cookies, but they are anathema as a "cocktail" before a large meal. In terms of IBA Official Cocktails, Embury describes classic Before-Dinner Cocktails, which whet the appetite, not other categories. Embury breaks all cocktail ingredients down into three categories: The base is the principal ingredient of the cocktail. It is typically a single spirit such as rum, gin, or whiskey, and typically makes up 75 percent or more of the total volume of the cocktail before icing. The modifying agent is the ingredient that gives the cocktail its character. Its function is
Isoamyl alcohol Isoamyl alcohol Isoamyl alcohol (also known as isopentyl alcohol) is a colorless liquid with the formula (CH)CHCHCHOH. It is one of several isomers of amyl alcohol. It is an ingredient in the production of banana oil, an ester found in natre and also produced as a flavouring in industry. It is a common fusel alcohol, produced as a major by-product of ethanol fermentation. It is also an ingredient of Kovac's reagent, used for the bacterial diagnostic indole test. It is also used as an antifoaming agent in the chloroform:isomyl alcohol reagent. Isoamyl alcohol is used in a phenol–chloroform extraction mixed