Introduction
Introduction
"The word ‘cocktail’ inevitably conjures up images of the ‘speakeasies’ of the Prohibition era, of sharp-suited gangsters and elegantly dressed molls, and of the Bright Young tings of the Jazz Age. While the golden age of the cocktail was undoubtedly the 1920s and 1930s, the practice of serving ‘mixed drinks’ is much older."
Alcoholic mixed drinks called braggets made of ale and mead (fermented honey) are known to have been popular in the 14th century, while mint julep is believed to have been made first in 18th century Virginia and served as a morning eye-opener.
Over the last 200 years many stories have emerged to explain the origin of the term cocktail. In his 1933 work, The cocktail Book- A sideboard manual for Gentlemen, John Mac Queen tells the legend of the cock’s tail and of the lovely young girl called Daisy who invented it. The Story goes that during the American War of Independence, the innkeeper of the Bunch of Grapes and a keen fan of the bloody sport of cock-fighting, discovered that Jupiter, his prize bird was missing. Sometime later, a young officer rode into town with Jupiter under his arm. Squire Allen was delighted to have his bird returned and ordered Daisy to serve the soldier the finest refreshment. A toast was drunk to ‘the cock’s tail’, since the mighty Jupiter had not lost a single feather during his absence.
Myths and legends
Other stories say that the cocktail was derived from the French word coquetier (egg cup). Monsieur Antoine Peychaud, a chemist in New Orleans, is said to have served his guests mixed drinks in egg cups. A mixed drink called a ‘coquetel’ was taken to America by the Marquis de Lafayette in 1777 and French officers in George Washington’s army were said to enjoy the ‘concoction’ of wines. In 1779, Betsy Flanagan, the widow of a Revolutionary officer and barmaid at Hall’s Corner Tavern in New York, is said to have decorated a drink with the feathers of roosters stolen from a loyalist neighbor. A group of French soldiers were served the drink and toasted Betsy with ‘Vive le cock-tail’.
Two further stories place the origins of the cocktail Mexico. One version has English sailors ashore at Campeche in Yucatan. A popular drink was a drac, a mixture of liquors stirred slowly with a wooden spoon. In one bar, the barman stirred the drinks not with a spoon, but with the root of a plant called cola de gallo – in English, a cock’s tail. Rather than ask for dracs the English sailors took to asking for ‘cock-tails’.
The Second version was provided by Harry Craddock, the legendary bartender at the Savoy hotel in London from 1920 to 1939. Craddock was the first president of the United Kingdom Bartender’s Guild and was responsible for introducing the delights of the fashionable American cocktail to Europe. Americans touring Europe often referred to the bar at the Savoy as the ‘49th state’ since it was the finest place to enjoy an American cocktail. In 1930 Craddock published the now highly collectable Savoy Cocktail Book. In Craddock’s story, the cocktail was invented at the beginning of the 19th century when the American Army of the Southern States was fighting the forces of King Axolotl VIII of Mexico. When a truce was declared, the king offered the American general a drink. A single cup of liquor was brought in by the king’s daughter who, realizing that whoever drank first would offend the other; saved everyone’s embarrassment by drinking it herself. The king’s daughter just happened to be called Coctel and thus, her drink became ‘cocktail’.
Modern Masters
While all these stories offer an explanation of the origin of the word ‘cocktail’ few, if any, offer hints of what went into these remarkable drinks. The earliest mention of the ingredients of cocktails can be found in The Balance and Columbian Repository, a newspaper published in Hudson, New York, on 13 May 1806, which described the cocktail as ‘ a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water; and bitters’.
The American barman ‘Professor’. Jerry Thomas was the first to produce a book of cocktail recipes in the 1860s. The Bon Vivant’s Guide, or How to Mix Drinks. The ‘Professor’ became famous when he was the bartender at the metropolitan Hotel in New York. Touring Europe, he travelled with a set of silver mixing cups from which he would trail a flame of liquid when he mixed his famous blue blazer cocktail.
The Professor’s recipe book was soon followed by many others. But outstanding was Harry Johnson’s Illustrated Bartender’s Manual. Published in 1882, Johnson’s book featured an illustration of an ice-filled bar glass with a metal cone-what was to become the modern cocktail shaker. Today there are thousands of recipes for cocktails and mixed drinks. Some are simple, some elaborate. Some use only a few ingredients, others have so many ingredients that it’s amazing they all fit into one glass! Everyone can make a good cocktail: there are no jealously guarded secrets, nor does it require years of toil. In this book you will find a good number of drinks that you can make straight away at home. You won’t need to splash out an exotic liqueurs – not yet anyway!
All of the recipes in this book are based on gin, vodka, tequila rum, brandy , whisky, vermouth, wine (including some champagne and fortified wines like sherry and port) with a few additions such as angostura bitters., grenadine, fruit juices and sparkling minerals. With a few ingredients, you should be able to make a fair proportion of the drinks on offer. A few, however, do use triple sec or a ‘branded’ ingredient such as Campari or Galliano and it is worthwhile investing in a bottle of each if you enjoy the flavor they impart. You will find more detailed information on each of the spirits in the section on ingredients and at the beginning of each chapter.
The recipes offered in this book are for you to try out for yourself. Choose a cocktail, a highball, a Rickey, a Collins, or a punch – or even a ‘mocktail’ – that catches your eye and try it. If it’s too sweet for your taste, cut down on the sugar or liqueur content. If it’s too sour, reduce the lemon or lime juice. Play around with the proportions until you find the ‘perfect mix’ and have fun!
"The word ‘cocktail’ inevitably conjures up images of the ‘speakeasies’ of the Prohibition era, of sharp-suited gangsters and elegantly dressed molls, and of the Bright Young tings of the Jazz Age. While the golden age of the cocktail was undoubtedly the 1920s and 1930s, the practice of serving ‘mixed drinks’ is much older."
Alcoholic mixed drinks called braggets made of ale and mead (fermented honey) are known to have been popular in the 14th century, while mint julep is believed to have been made first in 18th century Virginia and served as a morning eye-opener.
Over the last 200 years many stories have emerged to explain the origin of the term cocktail. In his 1933 work, The cocktail Book- A sideboard manual for Gentlemen, John Mac Queen tells the legend of the cock’s tail and of the lovely young girl called Daisy who invented it. The Story goes that during the American War of Independence, the innkeeper of the Bunch of Grapes and a keen fan of the bloody sport of cock-fighting, discovered that Jupiter, his prize bird was missing. Sometime later, a young officer rode into town with Jupiter under his arm. Squire Allen was delighted to have his bird returned and ordered Daisy to serve the soldier the finest refreshment. A toast was drunk to ‘the cock’s tail’, since the mighty Jupiter had not lost a single feather during his absence.
Myths and legends
Other stories say that the cocktail was derived from the French word coquetier (egg cup). Monsieur Antoine Peychaud, a chemist in New Orleans, is said to have served his guests mixed drinks in egg cups. A mixed drink called a ‘coquetel’ was taken to America by the Marquis de Lafayette in 1777 and French officers in George Washington’s army were said to enjoy the ‘concoction’ of wines. In 1779, Betsy Flanagan, the widow of a Revolutionary officer and barmaid at Hall’s Corner Tavern in New York, is said to have decorated a drink with the feathers of roosters stolen from a loyalist neighbor. A group of French soldiers were served the drink and toasted Betsy with ‘Vive le cock-tail’.
Two further stories place the origins of the cocktail Mexico. One version has English sailors ashore at Campeche in Yucatan. A popular drink was a drac, a mixture of liquors stirred slowly with a wooden spoon. In one bar, the barman stirred the drinks not with a spoon, but with the root of a plant called cola de gallo – in English, a cock’s tail. Rather than ask for dracs the English sailors took to asking for ‘cock-tails’.
The Second version was provided by Harry Craddock, the legendary bartender at the Savoy hotel in London from 1920 to 1939. Craddock was the first president of the United Kingdom Bartender’s Guild and was responsible for introducing the delights of the fashionable American cocktail to Europe. Americans touring Europe often referred to the bar at the Savoy as the ‘49th state’ since it was the finest place to enjoy an American cocktail. In 1930 Craddock published the now highly collectable Savoy Cocktail Book. In Craddock’s story, the cocktail was invented at the beginning of the 19th century when the American Army of the Southern States was fighting the forces of King Axolotl VIII of Mexico. When a truce was declared, the king offered the American general a drink. A single cup of liquor was brought in by the king’s daughter who, realizing that whoever drank first would offend the other; saved everyone’s embarrassment by drinking it herself. The king’s daughter just happened to be called Coctel and thus, her drink became ‘cocktail’.
Modern Masters
While all these stories offer an explanation of the origin of the word ‘cocktail’ few, if any, offer hints of what went into these remarkable drinks. The earliest mention of the ingredients of cocktails can be found in The Balance and Columbian Repository, a newspaper published in Hudson, New York, on 13 May 1806, which described the cocktail as ‘ a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water; and bitters’.
The American barman ‘Professor’. Jerry Thomas was the first to produce a book of cocktail recipes in the 1860s. The Bon Vivant’s Guide, or How to Mix Drinks. The ‘Professor’ became famous when he was the bartender at the metropolitan Hotel in New York. Touring Europe, he travelled with a set of silver mixing cups from which he would trail a flame of liquid when he mixed his famous blue blazer cocktail.
The Professor’s recipe book was soon followed by many others. But outstanding was Harry Johnson’s Illustrated Bartender’s Manual. Published in 1882, Johnson’s book featured an illustration of an ice-filled bar glass with a metal cone-what was to become the modern cocktail shaker. Today there are thousands of recipes for cocktails and mixed drinks. Some are simple, some elaborate. Some use only a few ingredients, others have so many ingredients that it’s amazing they all fit into one glass! Everyone can make a good cocktail: there are no jealously guarded secrets, nor does it require years of toil. In this book you will find a good number of drinks that you can make straight away at home. You won’t need to splash out an exotic liqueurs – not yet anyway!
All of the recipes in this book are based on gin, vodka, tequila rum, brandy , whisky, vermouth, wine (including some champagne and fortified wines like sherry and port) with a few additions such as angostura bitters., grenadine, fruit juices and sparkling minerals. With a few ingredients, you should be able to make a fair proportion of the drinks on offer. A few, however, do use triple sec or a ‘branded’ ingredient such as Campari or Galliano and it is worthwhile investing in a bottle of each if you enjoy the flavor they impart. You will find more detailed information on each of the spirits in the section on ingredients and at the beginning of each chapter.
The recipes offered in this book are for you to try out for yourself. Choose a cocktail, a highball, a Rickey, a Collins, or a punch – or even a ‘mocktail’ – that catches your eye and try it. If it’s too sweet for your taste, cut down on the sugar or liqueur content. If it’s too sour, reduce the lemon or lime juice. Play around with the proportions until you find the ‘perfect mix’ and have fun!
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