Toast (ritual)

A toast was a social custom that involved the use of alcohol. It consisted in a call to a gathering of beings to raise their beverages and drink together in honor of an event or person. The toasters would usually clink their glasses and drain them at a draught. Toasts came often and exhuberantly in parties, dinner, and other times of merry-making. The day after the destruction of the first Death Star by the Rebel Alliance forces, a celebration was held following the Royal Award Ceremony, and many toasts were drunk in honor of the victory against the Galactic Empire.

Many species throughout the galaxy respected this tradition, including the Humans, Half-Bothans, Caridans, Sanyassans, and Hutts.

Despite their rigid and ascetic lifestyle, the ancient Jedi were familiar with this social ritual. On the brink of the Seventh Battle of Ruusan, the Half-Bothan Jedi Lord Valenthyne Farfalla opened a barrel of his finest wine. He toasted in the company of his soldiers, commenting on how they would first spill wine before spilling blood on the battlefield.

Members of the Mandalorian warrior culture were also known to make toasts. Mandalore the Vindicated toasted the latest victor of the Great Hunt aboard his ship during the Cold War, and the Mandalorian Protectors made a toast to their Battle Legionnaire droid comrades and their hopes of victory prior to the Battle of New Bornalex. Other Mandalorians, such as Kal Skirata, were known to toast to hopeful future prospects, as well as to the memories of lost loved ones, and it was common practice to toast the coming of age of a Mandalorian youth.

Sometimes, toasting was used ironically, as a way of mocking or even insulting someone. In 11 ABY, the Caridan ambassador Furgan—who was loyal to the defunct Empire—called a toast "in honor" of Mon Mothma, the President of the New Republic, and hurled his drink into her face. The glass was in fact full of a poison that seeped into Mon Mothma's pores and attacked her cells.

Text and facts from the “Toast (ritual)/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.