The amusing history of cocktails
There is an “official” list of cocktails
MOREThe International Bartenders Association ( IBA ) has a list of official cocktails. The cocktail list is divided into three categories: Unforgettable ( Gin Fizz, Sidecar and Negroni for example ), Contemporary Classics ( including Cosmopolitan, Sex on the Beach and Black Russian ) and New Era Drinks ( Espresso Martini, Vesper and Darn 'N' Stormy are a few ). Check the list of IBA's official cocktails here
The history of cocktails is filled with amusing stories and legends that have been around for centuries now.
The word cocktail was first documented in publications between 1795 and 1803.
It was on 13th May 1806 that the first documented use of the word cocktail was published in a New York newspaper, the Balance, and Columbian repository, edited by Harry Crosswell.
The Origin
However, there are no clear indication of the origin of the word and thus, the origin of the term cocktail will remain shrouded in mystery forever.
Cocktail is the art of mixing drinks with non-alcoholic ingredients, and ginger has traditionally been the most important and, the most used ingredient of a cocktail, since the very early days of mixed drinks.
Ginger and pepper infusions had another reason beyond just adding taste to a drink, they were historically common ingredients used to pep up an alcoholic drink and at some point, adding these ingredients alone to a spirit, would qualify the drink as a cocktail.
Soon these ginger drinks were replaced by bitters
Drink mixers bartenders innkeepers started expanding and experimenting and being more creative. Bitters were usually high proof alcohol infused with fruits, spices, leaves, barks, roots and herbs, these were collectively referred to as botanicas.
The Prohibition Era in the America
In around 1919, USA was going through prohibition, and naturally, the practice and popularity of cocktails took a hit. Alcohol trade ran underground and into the hands of the mafia, we all remember that the rise of Al Capone was on casks of illegally brewed and sold alcohol.
The rise of speakeasies, the illicit alcohol trade changed the way Americans were drinking alcohol, and it mattered since the American consumption culture played a major role in the history of cocktails, Europeans and the Brits never really warmed up to cocktails.
This is the period when mixed drinks, or other alcohols became what it is today.
Poor Quality leads to more mixing
What happened next was interesting, despite the prohibitions, the organised crime kept producing spirits but, the quality of these illegally produced spirits were so bad and they tasted so awful that once again the necessity to mix the spirit with bitters and juices arose, and this new wave of cocktail reached every home.
Whatever the truth is behind the origin of cocktails, it is certain that these were the days when the modern cocktail became the tradition that it is today and became the art of mixing and creating heady concoctions that often cross the boundary of taste and indulge into the space of visuals and now it has already crossed the boundary of clubs, pubs and have reached homes of the rich where people were mixing exotic cocktails for guests at their parties.
Trending Recipes
Please Note All Recipes and Articles on this site are for entertainment and general information only. None of it is to be considered final or absolutely correct or medical in nature.
However, we have embarked on a journey of manually updating the relative strength of cocktails, their flavour profile and in the future aim at providing approximate calories per drink too.
Blue Tick Project:We aim at manually validating and verifying each cocktail in their current context and mark them as valid, where, a blue tick would mean that the recipe has been verified and is 100% accurate while an orange tick would mean the recipe has low confidence.
Where as a grey tick would mean that the recipe has not yet been manually validated or verified recently.
Note: The Cocktail photos used are graphical representations of the glass and colour of a drink, these are generated using information from the recipe and we personally strive at providing real photographs of cocktails and we hope we can replace all representational photos with real photos soon.
Contact Us using the Email Contact on the Sidebar if you think any Copyrighted photo has been unintentionally used on this site, and we'll take remedial action.
Some of the Photos are sourced from Royalty Free Photo Platforms like FreePik, Unsplash and Wikimedia Commons
About Us
Neel B and Mani, we are a team of two, from Calcutta, India. We are professional software engineers and passionate cocktail enthusiasts. We built this app because we saw a need for a more comprehensive and user-friendly way to find cocktails and bartending recipes. We hope you enjoy using our app as much as we enjoyed making it!We decided to use our technology skills to help others who were in the same position as us and wanted to experiment with making cocktails at home but didn\u2019t know where to start. We have been working together for more than two years and has managed to collect an extensive library of recipes as well as tips and tricks for making the perfect cocktail.
Neel B is an Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer and martial arts and fitness enthusiast. He is an avid reader, compulsive doodler, and painter. His love for cocktails arises from the art in it and the history that traces the ups and downs of modern civilisation over centuries.
Maniis an ERP and SaaS developer and architect by day and a cocktail enthusiast in her leisure. She holds a Masters in Computer Application and Programming. In addition to writing stories on the history of cocktails and alcohol, she has a special interest in cocktails in literature. She believes that the perfect cocktail can make any moment special.