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Sunday 11 May 2014

Cocktail

The word "cocktail" originated as a reference to a practice whereby prospective horse sellers in England would give old or droopy specimens a rectal dose of ginger to make them cock their tails for a younger, friskier appearance. From there it was just a short jump to the mixed drinks that made humans perk up, at least at the start of their alcoholic forays.

Sir Francis Drake is credited with inventing the cocktail in 1586. Made with mint and rum, 'The Draque' was a precursor to the modern mojito.

The tomato juice and vodka cocktail known as Bloody Mary was named after Queen Mary I of England. 300 English Protestants were martyred during her reign, which earned her the nickname "Bloody Mary."

The Manhattan cocktail is a mixture of whiskey and sweet vermouth. Popular history suggests that the drink originated at the Manhattan Club in New York City in 1874, where it was invented by Dr. Iain Marshall for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston's mother) in honor of the new governor Samuel J. Tilden.

The Brandy Daisy, a cocktail of citrus juice and brandy, was the forerunner of the Margarita. One of the earliest known recipes was published in 1876 in the second edition of Jerry Thomas's The Bartenders Guide or How To Mix Drinks: The Bon-Vivants Companion. Margarita is the Spainish name for Daisy.

Artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is said to have been the creator of the Earthquake cocktail, so named because of is strength. Its simple recipe is equal parts of absinthe and cognac.

Sir Thomas Gimlette (1857-1943), a British navel surgeon, believed that drinking straight gin was unhealthy and impaired the efficiency of navel officers, so he began to dilute it with lime juice, creating a new cocktail – the Gimlet.

Harry MacElhone and his bar man Fernand Petiot, of Harry's New York Bar in Paris, were the creators of the Bloody Mary cocktail on April 16, 1921. The addition of tomato juice to the vodka-based seasoned mixture gave the Bloody Mary its reddish, blood-like color. The blood-red concoction got it’s name because it reminded one of his staff of the Bucket of Blood Club in Chicago, and a girl there named Mary.

Bloody Mary. By Good1228gmail - Wikipedia Commons

The Hindenburg's signature cocktail was the Kirsch Martini: three parts kirsch (a German brandy), one part dry vermouth, and a dash of grenadine. A creative barman allegedly had to invent the drink on the fly after the passengers finished all of the whiskey on board mid-voyage!

Death in the Afternoon, a cocktail containing absinthe and champagne, was popularized by Ernest Hemingway in a 1935 recipe book.

The cartoon Tom and Jerry is named after a American Christmas cocktail invented in the 1820s.  The Tom and Jerry cocktail is a variant of eggnog with brandy and rum added and served hot, usually in a mug or a bowl.

London celebrity haunt Movida launched the world’s most expensive Christmas cocktail in 2007 at £35,000 a pop. It included a large measure of Louis XII cognac, half a bottle of Cristal Rosé champagne, flakes of 24-carat edible gold leaf — and an 11-carat white diamond ring.

Inspired by his 1993 song "Gin And Juice," rapper Snoop Dogg broke the world record for "the largest paradise cocktail" at California's BottleRock Napa Valley music festival on May 27, 2018. He created the gigantic cup of gin and juice with the help of Top Chef's Michael Voltaggio and fellow rapper Warren G. The drink contained 180 1.75-litre bottles of gin, 156 1-litre bottles of apricot brandy and 28 3.78-litre jugs of orange juice.

An attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the world’s most expensive cocktail was thwarted when a customer dropped and broke the bottle of Cognac that was worth $77,000.

Sources New York Times, Daily Mail

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