[imagesource:publicdomain]

Combining spirits and liqueurs with flavoured mixers and other ingredients to make unique cocktails is likely a practice that has existed since the beginning of time – or at least since we had hard alcohol. But have you ever wondered why these unique drinks are called cocktails?

Just like most things in the drinks industry, there is a debate about when the term ‘cocktail’ was first used and where it originates from.

If you had to look up the word in the Oxford dictionary it would tell you that a cocktail describes a horse with a tail like a cock’s, in other words, a tail that stood up – or docked tail. 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 – making an adulterated (or mixed) horse.

Many believe this might have been the origin of the word since horse racing and liquor go together like peaches and cream, so the theory holds that the word “cock tail” was soon used to mean an adulterated spirit. Adulterated in this case meaning ‘poorer in quality by adding another substance’.

That seems like a bit of a stretch though, so perhaps we could point to the origin of the word as coming from Betsy Flannagan, an innkeeper during the American Revolution, who garnished French soldiers’ drinks with feathers from her neighbour’s chickens. These soldiers – who were fighting alongside the Americans –  were reported to have cried “Vive le Cock-Tail!” whenever she served them.

“Cock tailings” was also term used to describe the mixture that was created when tavern owners combined the dregs of nearly empty barrels. 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”.

Yet another theory holds that an Aztec noble once ordered his daughter to serve ‘mixed drinks’ to other nobles, and since her name was rumoured to have been Xochitl – which sounded like “cocktail” – many point to that as the origin of the word.

Most would however agree the first use of the word in relation to a drink was in a 1803 article from The Farmer’s Cabinet in Vermont, where “to drink a cocktail” was claimed to be “excellent for the head.”

By 1806, the word was widely used with its current meaning, and in the 13th edition of the newspaper, Balance and Columbian Repository, the editor defined a cocktail as “a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind – sugar, water, and bitters”.

Today, the word cocktail simply means good times with good friends. Whichever origin story you believe, just make sure to use Fitch & Leedes Mixers to ensure your “stimulating liquor”. Their range of bespoke mixers is the perfect accompaniment to any drink, whether stirred with a feather or not.

[source:tastecocktails&diffordsguide]