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| Dear Yahoo!: |
| How did alcoholic drinks get the name "cocktails"? |
Jepwill
Lowell, Indiana |
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| Dear Jepwill: |
As we learned from a search on "cocktails origin term," this is yet another of those hotly debated questions that will probably never have a definitive answer. However, we did uncover a barload of interesting theories for your consumption. Among them: - The term may derive from the story of Betsy Flanagan, an innkeeper during the Revolutionary War who mixed her own drinks. This barkeep stole chickens from her British neighbor and served them roasted to her clientele. After the sumptuous meal, she served her guests a special alcohol concoction in glasses decorated with the tail feathers of the unlucky fowl. One of her appreciative
French customers happily declared, "Vive le cocktail!"
- Another version of this same tale has a group of American soldiers stealing pheasants from the British and celebrating with a wild night of drinking. During the festivities, the men toasted bartender Betsy's drinks, claiming "Here's to the divine mixed liquor which is as delicious to the palate, as the cock's tails are beautiful to the eye." A French office seconded the sentiment with the aforementioned proclamation, "Vive le cocktail."
- The term may have been inspired by the potent "cock-ale," an alcoholic mixture either fed to fighting cocks in the 1700s to get them in a fighting spirit, or sold to the crowds during such events.
- A cocktail is also
the term used for a horse of mixed origins whose tail has been bobbed. The term may refer to the mixed provenance of the drink, or possibly the assertion that such a drink was strong enough to "cock the tail" of anyone who partook of it.
- Another legend has that in one particular bar, the drinks left over at the close of each evening were poured into a large ceramic rooster. The less well-heeled patrons could purchase a glass of the grog that flowed from a tap in the bird's tail.
- According to another source, a tap in colonial America was called a "cock" and its dregs referred to as "tail." Upon tasting the vile mixture, one disgusted customer proclaimed, "Hereafter I will drink cocktails of my own brewing," and proceeded to concoct his own mixed drink.
We could go on
endlessly in this vein. Suffice it to say, no one really knows, but reading some of the conjecture sure makes for some heady entertainment.
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