chasse-café
nounUK /ˌʃaskaˈfeɪ/ · US /ˌʃæskæˈfeɪ/
Etymology Borrowed from French chasse-café (literally “coffee-chaser”).
1
Dated A small serving of spirits taken to remove the taste of coffee, tobacco, etc.
- "[…] And here comes tea and coffee—may as well have some, I suppose it will be all the same price. And what's this?" eyeing a lot of liqueur glasses full of eau de vie. "Chasse café, Monsieur," said the garçon. "Chasse cafe—chasse cafe—what's that? Oh, I twig—what we call 'shove in the mouth' at the Free-and-Easy.—Yes, certainly, give me a glass."1833 May, “a Yorkshireman” [pseudonym], “A Trip to Paris with Mr. Jorrocks”, in The New Sporting Magazine, volume V, number XXV, London: Baldwin & Cradock [et al.], →OCLC, page 42:
- The business of the drama is now over, and by way of epilogue, you toss off a demi-tasse of café noir, with its accompanying petit verre de liqueur, which has been appositely termed chasse-café, from the peculiar rapidity it usually exhibits in following that aromatic beverage. […] Such are the details of a Parsian dinner; […]1838, [Hezekiah Hartley Wright], chapter XXI, in Desultory Reminiscences of a Tour through Germany, Switzerland, and France. By an American, Boston, Mass.: William D[avis] Ticknor; Philadelphia, Pa.: E[dward] L. Carey and A[braham] Hart, →OCLC, page 297:
4 more examples
- The former will have devoted himself to you for the first half-score hours, have promenaded, dined à la carte, and chasse café’d with you, seen you to your hotel with bows, promises, and ravishing language, and then—have forgotten you for ever.[1847, Sylvanus [pseudonym; Robert Colton], “Letter XIX”, in Rambles in Sweden and Gottland: With Etchings by the Way-side, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 131:
- The dinner was in the best French manner—choice fruit, and wines of the greatest variety and richness; melon, with boiled beef as usual; coffee after dinner, without cream, and a small glass of liqueur called chasse-café, after it.1853, James Simpson, “The Louvre Gallery—First Visit”, in Paris after Waterloo: Notes Taken at the Time and hitherto Unpublished: […], Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 143:
- Sir Louis began by ordering the woman to bring him chasse-café. She offered him coffee, as much as he would; but no chasse.1858, Anthony Trollope, “Sir Louis Leaves Greshamsbury”, in Doctor Thorne. […], volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 118:
- I could not understand why they gave us unlimited light claret for dinner, with Madeira and champagne, with any number of chasse cafés, all included in the passage-money, whilst any one calling for a modest glass of ale had to pay extra, and pretty handsomely, for the same.1868, H[enry] C[harles] Ross Johnson, “The Conspiracy.—The Harbour of Buenos Ayres.”, in A Long Vacation in the Argentine Alps: Or Where to Settle in the River Plate States, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 22: