Why Is A Cocktail Called A Cocktail?

Why do they call a cocktail a cocktail?

The Surprising Origin of the Word ‘Cocktail’ Simply put, cocktails are delicious. They represent a sublime mingling of spirit, sugar, bitter and dilution with endless variations to create and imbibe. Naturally, any culture would be proud to lay claim to such an innovation, and many have tried. Perhaps none harder than America, and we make several excellent cases for having invented the term.

1. Simply put, cocktails are delicious.
2. They represent a sublime mingling of spirit, sugar, bitter and dilution with endless variations to create and imbibe.
3. Naturally, any culture would be proud to lay claim to such an innovation, and many have tried.
4. Perhaps none harder than America, and we make several excellent cases for having invented the term.

America Makes Its Claims Some claim that the phrase “cocktail” originated in New Orleans, where the creator of a well-known bitters by the name of Peychaud was known to serve a mixed brandy drink in a French egg cup called a ‘coquetier.’ Over time, fans of the beverage would westernize the pronunciation, eventually landing on ‘cocktail.’Others believe that it originated with a New York inn keep by the name of Betsy Flanagan, who served her bracing concoction to tired patriots on the march between New York City and Albany.

1. There’s another theory that states that bartenders used to pour their dregs into a single barrel, and budget-minded drinkers could order a pour from the spigot (also known as a cock).
2. So in essence, they were being served the cock tailings.
3. While others believe that the term originated in Maryland, based on a line from Washington Irving’s 1809 book Knickerbocker’s History of New York.

Looking Into the Past It can’t be denied that the both the phrase and the drink itself were wildly popular throughout America by the mid-19th century, and even English luminaries like Charles Dickens considered it to be a uniquely American innovation.

1. But sometimes, even Dickens gets the story wrong.
2. To find the oldest mention of the term, we’ll have to go right back to England.
3. Spirits scholar David Wondrich has conducted extensive research on the subject, and was able to trace the term back to 18th century England, predating any known mention of it in America.

He discovered that as early as 1690, a London apothecary by the name of Richard Stoughton sold bitters, which he recommended be mixed with sweetened brandy. This is essentially the recipe for a simple cocktail, and it places the beverage, if not its name, squarely in England well before any documented mention in America.

• Don’t Look a Gift Horse As to the phrase itself, ‘cocktail’ has a vulgar, slightly darker origin than its American attributors had put forth.
• Wondrich found the earliest mention in a text published in 1785 called A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, by Francis Grose.
• There’s no way to put this delicately, so here goes: a merchant selling a horse would want to get the best price for the animal, particularly if the beast was old and broken down.

In order to liven the horse up, said merchant might insert a piece of spicy ginger into the posterior of the animal, which would cause the tail to perk up at a jaunt+F12:G19y angle—a sure sign of a healthy, spirited horse. In his book, Grose goes on to mention that the phrase is, “used figuratively for encouraging or spiriting one up.” It’s no great leap, then, to imagine how ‘cocktail’ became associated with the mixture of spirits, sugar and bitters that we know and love today.

Where did the term cocktail come from?

Where did the word actually come from? – As with the first instance of the term, the word itself can be left for debate too.but there are three popular theories which we’ve summarised for you: The Egg-Cup Theory (Coquetier) According to the online Etymology Dictionary, the origin of the cocktail is down to a mispronunciation of the French word for eggcup coquetier (pronounced in English as cocktay),

1. Apparently, a New Orleans apothecary (and inventor of Peychaud bitters), Antoine Amédée Peychaud, served brandy with his bitters in eggcups in the late 18th century.
2. T he Dregs Theory (Cock tailings) “Cock tailings” was a term used to describe the mixture that was created when tavern owners combined the dregs (tailings) of nearly empty barrels together.

The resulting mixture from several barrels would then be sold at a discounted price. This only makes sense when you know that the spigot (tap) of a barrel was sometimes referred to as a “cock.” The Docked Horse Theory (Cock Tail) In the 17th Century the term “cock tail” was used to describe an animal with a cock(rooster)-like tail, specifically for horses with docked tails. Coach horses and hunt horses tails were often docked for practical purposes. By the 19th century, unlike other horses, thoroughbreds did not have docked tails, so when a regular horse was entered into a race, its cock tail was noted.

• I can’t afford a thorough-bred, and hate a cocktail,” Thackeray wrote in 1842.
• There are two possible connections: racehorses with cocked tails were perky and sometimes friskier than those without, so “cock your tail up” became a saying similar to eye-opening.
• The second possibility is that the horses’ tails had been changed, and adding other ingredients to create a cocktail adulterated spirits.

Since horse racing and liquor go together like peaches and cream, this theory holds that the word “cock tail” was soon used to mean an adulterated spirit. Image credit: BBC Magazine

What is the difference between a cocktail and a mixed drink?

What Is the Difference Between a Cocktail and a Mixed Drink? The cocktail world is full of never-ending debates: Is cognac or gin better for a French 75? Are we using vodka or gin for martinis? But before you get that far, start with the basics: What’s the difference between a cocktail and a mixed drink? It sounds simple, but even though many people use the two terms interchangeably, there is a difference.

1. That said, how precisely they’re defined is also up for debate.
2. A mixed drink has a minimum of two ingredients, but once you get to a third ingredient, it’s a cocktail,” says Keith Meicher, head bartender at Sepia in Chicago, who was behind the stick pouring vodka sodas (a mixed drink) and shaking gin with rhubarb and lime (a cocktail) when I asked him this question.

“So all cocktails are mixed drinks,” Meicher says. “A mixed drink can also be a highball; I don’t consider a highball a cocktail.” Joe Stinchcomb, owner of Bar Muse in Oxford, Mississippi, doesn’t either. “A mixed drink is a ‘one and;’ Jack and Coke, vodka and tonic, gin and tonic,” he says.

1. A cocktail is something that takes time to make and create.
2. You figured out that you want pineapple, mango, vodka, and lime, shook it, and poured it into the glass.
3. To me, that’s a cocktail.” Though they’re in agreement about a highball, when asked how to define an Aperol spritz, both bartenders paused.

Stinchcomb and Meicher make it with Aperol and sparkling wine (many recipes also call for sparkling water), but Stinchcomb decided on a mixed drink (“It’s a ‘one and'”) and Meicher said, “I feel somehow it’s a cocktail.” To get to the heart of this terminology, let’s go back to the beginning.

“Cocktail” was the original name for what we today call an “Old Fashioned,” a drink made with a spirit, sugar, water, and bitters. Alba Huerta, owner of Julep in Houston, says “the cocktail was in line with a sling, a julep, a fix — we had all these different names for these drinks. Now we call them all cocktails.” Huerta theorizes that Prohibition is the most likely culprit for why these categories began to blur; when bartenders left the industry or moved out of the country to continue bartending, they did not pass on this knowledge.

Nickle Morris, co-owner of Louisville’s Expo, also thinks about the original “cocktail” when defining the term for himself. “It was taking a spirit and preparing it for enjoyment,” he says. “I think it’s about intention; if you don’t put a lot of effort into the preparation, it’s not a cocktail.” Following that thinking, a rum and Coke is a mixed drink, but a Cuba Libre, with the addition of lime and Angostura, is a cocktail.

1. Aside from the number of ingredients, intention plays a role in defining a drink.
2. If prepared thoughtfully, a Japanese highball is a cocktail, he says.
3. But if you’re merely dumping the ingredients into a glass, it’s a mixed drink.
4. For Huerta, it’s the process of making the drink that’s the differentiating factor in contemporary definitions of these two terms.

“If you’re stirring or shaking, that’s a method that in the contemporary world is assigned to cocktails,” she says. “Mixed drinks are like a vodka cranberry or something that’s built and doesn’t get shaken or stirred.” By the same definition, a punch is a mixed drink since there’s no “active energy.” Huerta says that in Texas, that’s the difference between a liquor license for bottle service and a cocktail bar.

They’re asking us, ‘Are you mixing it? Are you shaking it?'” she says. “If we sold only bottles, and people mixed their own drinks, that would be okay, as long as it’s us not doing it.”Whether it’s the number of ingredients, the process, or the intention that differentiates a cocktail from a mixed drink, the easiest way to tell the two categories apart seems to be a question of simplicity.

In all cases, a mixed drink is the more stripped down option, whereas a cocktail has more ingredients and requires more steps. But it’s also a question of language, and Meicher says that he hears different generations call the same beverages different things.

Are cocktails Haram?

What does the Quran say about alcohol? – Drinking alcohol is considered haram, or forbidden, in, As proof of the prohibition, Islamic scholars and Muslim religious authorities typically point to a verse in the Quran, the Muslim holy book, that calls intoxicants “the work of Satan” and tells believers to avoid them.

Did America invent the cocktail?

Who Invented the Cocktail? L ast fall, I visited a new restaurant and lounge in London called, It specializes in revivals and adaptations of early-19th-century British libations, including a rum shrub of the sort one might have sipped during the reign of King George III.

Shrubs typically involved fresh fruits preserved in vinegar, then mixed with spirits.) I thought it was uncommonly delicious, and immediately felt traitorous for thinking so. The early Brits were famous for guzzling sweetened gin in large and harmful quantities, not for producing mixed drinks of sophistication or quality.

The Americans were supposedly the ones who did that. The drink catechism has long held that cocktails as we know them were created by, a pioneering and flamboyant American bartender who published the first bar manual in 1862. David Wondrich, the author of, the most comprehensive account of Thomas’s work, did much to secure this reputation.

His book advanced the notion, now commonly repeated, that cocktails are a reflection of our native genius, as American as apple pie and baseball. “And it turns out that’s precisely true,” Wondrich told me recently. “Because they made apple pies in Europe before we did. And they played rounders before we did.

Whenever you look into any of these things and poke at the beginning, you’re suddenly earlier.” While researching Imbibe!, Wondrich had been intrigued by Thomas’s frequent mentions of punch—spirits mixed with citrus juice and other flavorings. Wondrich suspected that such drinks represented a British precursor to the modern American cocktail.

• He investigated for his next book,, due out this fall, and his suspicions were confirmed.
• As far as I can tell,” he said, “the British pretty much invented mixology with spirits when they came up with punch.” In particular, Wondrich now singles out James Ashley, who ran a famous punch house in London from 1731 to 1776, as “the world’s first celebrity mixologist.” Ashley refined the idea of mixed drinks with spirits, even serving his concoctions in smaller, individually mixed cups rather than big bowls.

Wondrich found further accounts, from around the same time, of other barmen in England serving up proto-cocktails like sweetened gin mixed with bitters. Hix is attracting considerable attention for its revival of these drinks, which accompany its oddly trendy adaptations of ancient English fare, like pollack fingers on mushy peas.

1. Nick Strangeway, a noted London compounder of cocktails, was given a mandate to serve up something in period and authentic, and not to coddle the taste buds of Hix’s customers.
2. Among the drinks he revived was the Lamb’s Wool, which dates to the 1640s and involves heated beer and fruit purees.
3. I didn’t think anyone would buy it,” he told me.

“People don’t like it when you mess with their beer.” He was wrong, and it’s now among the more popular drinks. I didn’t order a Lamb’s Wool, but very much enjoyed his shrub, made with citrus-infused rum and scalded milk served over ice. I also liked a drink called Robert Burns’s Hunting Flask, made with warmed whiskey infused with currants, ginger, and citrus.

1. These were rich and complicated drinks, and I think they could prove popular on this side of the Atlantic.
2. Bowls of delicious punch have already made inroads into bars like Death & Co in New York and Rickhouse in San Francisco.
3. Perhaps we’ll see a wave of neo-colonial taverns staffed by toothless barmaids in mobcaps, ladling drink out of firkins.

Or, possibly, not. Wondrich insists that history doesn’t need to be rewritten, merely revised: cocktails may have been invented in Britain, but they were roundly reimagined and reinvented in the United States. Americans brought to the bar a wider array of liquors and other ingredients, and started doing fine things with ice when it became commonly available.

1. The Martini and the Manhattan came about when Americans had the freakish idea of mixing wine and spirits.
2. And Jerry Thomas remains best known for the Blue Blazer, a Scotch drink he lit on fire and poured back and forth, still aflame, between two tankards.
3. Folk music became rock and roll here, and drink became more vulgar and more democratic at the same time,” Wondrich told me.

“Jerry Thomas’s mixology was far more brash, and with far more showmanship. It all has European roots, but the Europeans just didn’t do it with that same kind of big-balled swagger.” Which, now that I think about it, would make an excellent name for a 21st-century punch house.

What is the Oxford Dictionary of cocktail?

Quick Reference – Mixed alcoholic drink; there are many recipes based on a wide variety of spirits and liqueurs, with fruit juice, milk, or coconut milk, normally shaken with crushed ice.

Why is it called a virgin cocktail?

Non-alcoholic drinks are called “virgin” because they are considered to be pure and untouched, much like a virgin. This term originated in the 1980s when a trend of creating non-alcoholic versions of popular cocktails began to emerge. These non-alcoholic cocktails were given the name “virgin” to distinguish them from their boozy counterparts.

The term “virgin” is often used to describe something that is pure and untouched, and this is certainly the case when it comes to non-alcoholic drinks. Unlike their alcoholic counterparts, virgin cocktails and other non-alcoholic beverages do not contain any alcohol, making them suitable for those who are unable to or choose not to drink alcohol.

The popularity of non-alcoholic drinks has increased in recent years as more and more people have become aware of the potential health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption. In addition, the rise of social media and the “wellness” movement has also contributed to the popularity of non-alcoholic drinks, as people have become more conscious of what they put into their bodies.

What is a drink without alcohol called?

What is a virgin mocktail? Although there has been a recent media frenzy over the “sober curious” movement along with dozens of new low alc and zero proof products (think non-alcoholic gins, amaro’s, wines, beers), people have been making and ordering alcohol-free drinks for nearly 100 years.

For health reasons, societal reasons or because alcohol simply wasn’t legal, global drinkers have been sipping on “virgin” drinks throughout history. If you’ve been wondering “what is a virgin drink?” or “what is a mocktail?” keep reading as we’ve provided a quick history. What is a Virgin Drink? In simplest terms, a virgin drink is a drink that does not contain any alcohol.

It’s also known as a mocktail. Often, when making mocktails and virgin drinks, one will replace the alcohol with a flavored mixer like ginger ale, ginger beer, or tonic water. This creates a similar flavor to the original, without having to add any alcohol.

1. There is also a movement to promote the concept of a “low-alcohol” drink which still incorporates alcoholic products, but the emphasis is on spirts that typically have half the alcohol content of say a whiskey or vodka.
2. These includes aperitifs like vermouths.
3. The History of Mocktails Ever wondered why mocktails are sometimes referred to as virgin drinks? According to many sources, the name dates back to the prohibition era.

Around this time, the Bloody Mary, which combines vodka with tomato juice, became a popular cocktail. During Prohibition, though, folks could no longer go out and order a Bloody Mary to drink. Instead, they would ask for a Virgin Mary, which was just plain old tomato juice.

• Referring to the drink as a Virgin Mary was a tongue-in-cheek way of clarifying that the customer wasn’t ordering alcohol.
• It also had obvious goody two shoes, church-related overtones that made folks smile (especially when they would go on to add their own vodka later from a personal pocket or hip flask).

The term “Virgin” now applies to just about any mocktail, so you’ll hear it ordered with dozens of other drinks to signal “non-alcoholic”. Most Popular Mocktails These days, most people aren’t adding their own vodka or other alcoholic drinks to their mocktails.

Virgin Mary: This Bloody Mary alternative still reigns supreme, and it’s an especially popular mocktail option and breakfasts and brunches. Virgin Daiquiri: The virgin daiquiri is made by combining sugar, ice, fruit (usually strawberries), and lime juice. Virgin Bellini: This mocktail combines peach nectar or extracts with sparkling apple cider for a fresh and fruity beverage. Virgin Sangria: Sangria typically combines wine with a variety of fresh fruits, lemon juice, and cinnamon. You can also hold the wine and use fruit juice for a virgin alternative. Non-Alcoholic Fizz: This virgin drink is an alternative to the popular Madras cocktail. It’s made with orange juice, cranberry juice, and club soda.

These are some popular options, but you can make just about any cocktail a virgin drink or mocktail by omitting the liquor and adding an alternative, such as fruit juice or Fever-Tree flavored tonic water.Whether you want to create your own signature mocktail from scratch or try one of these popular options listed above, you have tons of options to choose from.Try ordering one of these drinks a try during your next party or trip to the bar or check out our if you want to make your own for yourself or a guest.

Enjoy Your Own Mocktails Today : What is a virgin mocktail?

Is Jack and Coke a cocktail?

The Jack & Coke is an easy, refreshing two-ingredient cocktail made with Jack Daniel’s and your favorite cola.

Which drink is forbidden in Islam?

Ask Ali: Why Islam forbids alcohol Dear Ali: Why is alcohol forbidden in Islam? Don’t you feel like sometimes wanting to try it? DO, Canada Dear DO: Alcohol is forbidden in Islam because it is considered an intoxicant, which technically means poison.

• The Holy Quran in several verses forbids intoxicants because one is not meant to harm oneself in any way or form.
• There are verses in the Quran that forbid Muslims to pray under the influence of any intoxicant (4:43).
• The Quran also says that alcohol contains some good and some evil, but that the evil is greater than the good (2:219).

This is meant as a deterrent to make people turn away from its consumption. That said, the Quran clarifies that “intoxicants and games of chance” are “abominations of Satan’s handiwork” (Soura 5:90-91). We interpret these verses as forbidding the use of intoxicants such as beer, wine and spirits.

• Moreover, the Quranic ban is due not only to alcohol being an intoxicant, but also because it could make devoted Muslims forget their prayers and God.
• To us, that would be far more harmful than anything.
• Also, the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) instructed his followers to avoid any intoxicating substances.
• For this reason, most Muslims avoid alcohol, even small amounts used in cooking.

Therefore, if you are a non-Muslim and invite your Muslim friends for lunch or dinner, it would be polite to respect their religion. If any alcohol has been used to cook or prepare the dishes, warn your guests as a sign of respect. Many people associate alcohol with “having fun” or “a good time”.

I respect that and I have no problem with it, but have to ask: what kind of fun is it when it could lead to losing your temper or your mind? What fun is it when it smells bad? What fun is it if you can’t even drive your own car? Even those who drink moderately may still have a headache when they wake up in the morning.

So again, where is the fun? Those are some reasons why I don’t drink, but the main reason is that as a believer in God and as a Muslim I’m proud to say that I follow my religion’s teachings, which are good for me and my community. Dear Ali: My friend just bought a new car and slaughtered a goat or a sheep to celebrate.

What does slaughtering an animal have anything to do with that? LV, Sharjah Dear LV: I understand your confusion. It sounds like quite a random thing to someone who doesn’t know our Islamic and cultural ways. When something good happens in our lives, Muslims usually try to show our gratitude by slaughtering livestock and giving it away to the less fortunate.

It also is almost our way of trying to prevent bad omens. You may be aware that we say phrases such as “mashallah” to guard against the evil eye, but that is not always enough. We believe the power of an envious eye can cause bad things to happen to us, and slaughtering livestock (or giving money to charity) cleanses any bad vibes to the best of our ability.

Some people would choose a cow or even a camel, but for most the animal to be slaughtered is either a goat or a sheep. Language lesson Arabic: Khamr English: Alcohol/fermented

While the word “khamr” means fermented, most of the time it refers to alcoholic drinks, since they are fermented. “Ana ma ashrab khamr” means “I don’t drink alcohol”. : Ask Ali: Why Islam forbids alcohol

Can Muslims drink rum?

In Islam, rum and alcohol are prohibited, so how can we warm and heat our bodies in the winter time besides sitting the whole day by a fire chimney? Just wear a sweater. It’s pretty obvious. BTW, alcohol doesn’t keep you warm.

Is SOJU halal in Islam?

Original Drink from Korea – Soju is a trendy beer drink in Korea, especially in South Korea. Almost every restaurant in Korea must provide Soju as a warm drink, especially in cold weather. This alcoholic drink is colorless, aka clear, and should not be drunk by Halal People.

What is the world’s oldest cocktail?

What was the first ever cocktail? – Accounts differ, but most experts agree that the first cocktail was the Sazerac, a blend of whisky, absinthe, bitters and sugar. Created in New Orleans in the mid-1800s, this is one of the first cocktails recognisable by name and remains a favourite to this day.

Which country invented cocktails?

They might look right at the top of a glass, but a tiny paper umbrella and a twist of orange peel do not a cocktail make. Nor does juice or soda when added to a shot of rum or vodka (if we’re gonna get really technical, these aren’t “cocktails” at all).

So what exactly makes a cocktail? A few things—mainly spirits, water, sugar, and bitters. But also a lot of history. Cocktails are traditionally thought of as an American innovation, but they were actually at least partly inspired by British punches—big bowls of spirits mixed with fruit juice, spices, and other flavors, consumed in punch houses in the 18 th century.

The term cocktail was even first seen in a British newspaper printed March of 1798. But the term wasn’t really defined as we know it until 1806, when The Balance and Columbian Repository of Hudson, New York, pinned the cocktail down to what we follow today: ” a stimulating liquor composed of any kind of sugar, water and bitters, vulgarly called a bittered sling.” (The sling had actually predated the cocktail, basically the same thing made without bitters.) “Stimulating” has always been a basic prime goal of cocktails, but the true art of bartending evolved thanks especially to one guy—Jerry Thomas.

Jerry, aka “Professor” Thomas, a Connecticut-born, prolific American bartender who worked all over America and Europe and wrote one of the first comprehensive recipe books— The Bartender’s Guide (or How to Mix Drinks ), basically an encyclopedia of mixed drinks that became a standard-bearer for bartenders.

Not that Thomas and his peers were working in a vacuum. Increasing travel and steps toward industrialization helped, as did innovations toward one key ingredient in cocktail culture: ice, Imagine going to a bar and getting everything from a Mint Julep to a Martini at dull room temperature.

• We don’t have to, thanks to a guy crazy enough to dream up an ice exporting business at a time when the fastest delivery system was a ship and most ports weren’t equipped to store whatever ice didn’t melt in transit.
• That didn’t deter Frederic “Ice King” Tudor, who kept trying and failing at hauling ice from colder climes to warmer ports until the venture finally succeeded (and made him a billionaire).

With ice more available around the U.S. and internationally, the possibilities for cocktails—and cocktail consumption—exploded. But then a little thing called Prohibition put a slight damper on cocktail consumption (and gave a big boost to organized crime).

Even after it was repealed, many of our most talented bartenders had already found new homes abroad. In a sense, World Wars (and increased tourism) were a slight saving grace for cocktail culture, with exposure to the Pacific theater and its Polynesian culture introducing us to the kitsch and copious rums of what became our corrupted Tiki culture,

Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt’s adopted Don the Beachcomber persona became an iconic Hollywood restaurant and Polynesian hot spot, while Victor Bergereon (aka “Trader Vic”) opened a self-named competing Tiki spot in San Francisco in the 1930s. Attention to Tiki gave way to attention to other cocktail cultures, and by the mid-20 th century, cocktail culture was on a slight upswing—think Mad Men, Manhattans, Martini lunches—only to take a step back as the drug cultures of the 60s and 70s strutted forward.

It wasn’t until the 90s or thereabouts that a modest but ambitious group of bartenders led by people like Dale Degroff at New York’s famous Rainbow Room began reviving the classic cocktail culture of Thomas’s time, bringing historical values and strict quality standards back to a craft that had devolved into sour mix, pre-fab bottled cocktails like The Pink Squirrel, and shooters like the Training Bra.

(The decades that followed Degroff saw what became a “mixology” renaissance,) Classic and even historical cocktails might be more readily available, but many of the drinks found in The Bartender’s Guide probably won’t make their way to bar menus anytime soon—which is a shame, because they have fun names like Brandy Crusta and Port Wine Sangaree.

Who is known as the king of cocktails?

Dale DeGroff American bartender and author (born 1948) Dale DeGroff DeGroff in 2010 Born ( 1948-09-21 ) September 21, 1948 (age 74) NationalityOccupationKnown forCocktail expert Notable work The Craft of the Cocktail Dale DeGroff (born September 21, 1948, Rhode Island), also known as “the King of Cocktails” or “King Cocktail”, is an American bartender and author.

• The New York Times in 2015 called DeGroff “one of the world’s foremost cocktail experts”, and wrote that his book The Craft of the Cocktail is considered an essential bartending reference.
• From 1987 to 1999 DeGroff rose to prominence as the original chief bartender in the at in New York City, where his then-unusual emphasis on classic cocktail recipes and high-quality ingredients led to substantial acclaim and emulation by many other bars in New York City and beyond, and helped influence the creation of the,

He is the founding president of in New Orleans, founded in 2005. He is also a partner and consultant in the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) group. The awarded DeGroff the 2009 Wine & Spirits Professional Award, and in 2015 inducted him into the Who’s Who in Food & Beverage in America.

What is the legal definition of a cocktail?

Cocktail or ‘mixed drink’ means any beverage obtained by combining ingredients alcoholic in nature, whether brewed, fermented, or distilled, with ingredients non-alcoholic in nature, such as fruit juice, lemonade, cream, or a carbonated beverage.

What was the first named cocktail?

What was the first ever cocktail? – Accounts differ, but most experts agree that the first cocktail was the Sazerac, a blend of whisky, absinthe, bitters and sugar. Created in New Orleans in the mid-1800s, this is one of the first cocktails recognisable by name and remains a favourite to this day.