A Brief History of Cocktails

The history of cocktails has less than 200 years. According to Jeremiah P. Thomas (1830-1885) How to Mix Drinks or The Bon Vivant’s Companion (1862), in the mid-XNUMXth century, cocktails were a mixture of strong alcohol, sugar, water and bitter (herbal liquor), only later low-alcohol ingredients began to be included.

Jerry Thomas’ book played an important role in the history of cocktails in general – it was the first “bartender’s guide” in which the word “cocktail” officially appeared. From the sling (sling, from the German schlingen – “swallow in one gulp” – the forerunner of cocktails) it was distinguished precisely by the mandatory presence of bitter. Today, this definition corresponds to Old Fashioned (whisky, sugar, bitter), Sazerac (cognac, absinthe, sugar, bitter), Manhattan (rye whiskey, vermouth, angostura).

The term Old Fashioned (“old-fashioned”) appeared to separate “old-fashioned” cocktails based on spirits and bitters from modern complex variations.

Etymology of the term

The most plausible is the following explanation of the origin of the term: cocktails were called horses with a cropped tail. This mark meant that the horse was not a purebred, but a half-breed. Then they began to talk like that about people who aspired to get into high society, but did not have the appropriate origin and upbringing. Perhaps, alcohol diluted with water also became, as it were, a “half-breed”, lost its “purity of origin”, for which it received the appropriate name.

Another version says that the word “cocktail” can be modified cock ale – this is how ale brewed with the addition of fruits, spices and scalded rooster (cock) was called in England of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries.

Less popular versions

1. The word appeared in New Orleans from the French coquetel – the so-called egg stand, in which drinks were sometimes served, as in a glass.
2. From cock tail – “cock’s tail”. Allegedly, drinks on special occasions were decorated with such a tail.
3. The same etymology as in the previous paragraph, but the explanation is different: it is believed that it is customary to stir drinks with a cock’s tail in Mexico.

The advent of cocktails

Cocktails are considered an American invention, but they were inspired by British punches, popular in the XNUMXth century: fruits, spices, various additional ingredients were added to alcohol and all this was served in large bowls.

The first use of the word cocktail in a sense other than “horse with clipped tail” occurs in an English newspaper in 1798 and means ginger. Perhaps because (according to some researchers) old horses were given ginger candles, after which the animal became frisky and provocative, periodically bucking its croup (cock tail).

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Americans began referring to mixed drinks as a cocktail in 1803. Three years later, the book The Balance, and Columbian repository was published in New York, in which the term was assigned the definition of “a stimulating alcoholic drink with the addition of sugar, water and bitter in any proportions, colloquially – “bitter sling”.

Initially, cocktails were supposed to be invigorating, this was their main function. However, Jerry “Professor” Thomas, an American bartender from Connecticut, the author of the already mentioned guide, brought the art of mixing drinks to a whole new level, making the mixtures not only “practical”, but tasty and beautiful.

Another important name in the history of cocktails is Frederick “King of Ice” Tudor: it was he who introduced the key ingredient, without which it is impossible to imagine a truly stylish drink today – ice.

Development of cocktail culture

In the 1890s, the term “highball (highball)” appeared – this is how cocktails based on any distillate (strong liquor) and non-alcoholic “diluent” were designated. The first cocktail party was held in May 1917 in the USA, and lasted only an hour – until lunch was served to the guests.

During the American Prohibition (1919-1933), cocktails became especially popular: alcohol was poured illegally in underground bars, often the quality of smuggled and home-made alcohol left much to be desired, so the unpleasant aftertaste was masked by fruit juices, honey and other fragrances. On the other hand, “high school” cocktails were almost forgotten: there were no ingredients for them, and many good bartenders left the United States.

From the 1960s to the end of the 2000th century, in the wake of the development of informal subcultures, unmixed alcohol came to the fore, but in the XNUMXs a real “cocktail revival” began – many original and complex combinations appeared. A significant name in those days was the American bartender Dale Degroff, who put a lot of effort into recreating old recipes and impeccably following quality standards.

Now the word “cocktail” refers to any mixed drink – with or without alcohol – regardless of its “specialty”. This category includes punches, and slings, and highballs, and all other variations.