Page 27 - Thirst Magazine Issue 1 (Feb 2017)

DIFFERENCES the nation’s history and carry with them a
BETWEEN THE spirit of camaraderie.
COCKTAIL GLASS, THE The origin of the term “cocktail” is
MARTINI GLASS AND relatively unknown beyond traditional lore. A TIME OF INVENTION
THE OLD FASHIONED One popular story involves a woman named
GLASS: Betsy Flanagan, who put a rooster tail into her AND EXCITEMENT,
drinks and coined the nickname “cock-tail”,
as is described by Cheryl Charming in The A TIME WHEN THE
Everything Bartender’s Book.
The first description of the drink appeared COCKTAIL WAS KING
in the 1806 New York publication of The
Balance and Columbian Repository: The
“cocktail is stimulating liquor composed of revived after the war, especially when
The cocktail glass has spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters,” companies realised they could profit by
a narrower bowl, a flat quotes Charming. advertising through creative drink creations
bottom and a capacity With the rise of ice machines and beer taps, such as the Bloody Mary and the Irish Coffee.
of 130ml (4.5oz) the bar scene swelled in popularity during the
Industrial Revolution, especially as European COFFEE, IRISH WHISKY AND SUGAR.
immigrants brought their customs of communal
drinking. The cocktail grew in popularity, The drink was created by Joe Sheridan, a chef
and this was when the Manhattan, the Old who served the drink to the American Pan AM
Fashioned, and the Rob Roy were first created. passengers in 1941, who landed during a particularly
“This was the classic era, a time of invention miserable winter. Sheridan added whiskey to the
and excitement, a time when the cocktail was coffee to warm them up and when asked what drink
king,” writes Dale DeGroff, the highly praised it was, he told the passengers that it was Irish Coffee.
bartender of New York’s Rainbow Room, in his
book The Essential Cocktail. Culture has since evolved, and so has
The martini glass Soon after, the Prohibition began. Some the cocktail. In the 1950s and ’60s, whiskey
has larger bowls, a fully historians believe that America felt threatened and gin-based drinks shifted to vodka-based
conical bottom and by the cultural customs arriving with the new drinks. Cranberry and exotic drinks, like the
contains 150ml (5oz) immigrants, especially in regard to alcohol Margarita, flourished in the ’60s. The 1970s
consumption. The 13-year ban on alcohol from experienced a lull in cocktail popularity, as
1920 to 1933 was likely an emotional response drinking culture shifted to a taste for wine.
to regulate social behaviour for the sake of the However, according to DeGroff, the late ’80s
nation’s physical and spiritual health. While marked the start of a “culinary revolution”
on the surface the intention was to protect the in which America desired finer ingredients,
nation’s common good, this 18th Amendment flavours and options, and bartenders
The Old Fashioned essentially infringed on the individuals’ rights throughout the nation rediscovered the art of
glass is a tumbler with that the Constitution protected. the cocktail.
a wide brim and a thick After Prohibition, cocktail popularity Indeed, the cocktail is an evolving drink.
base, holding between struggled against the Great Depression and While it had its ups and downs, it remains an
160ml (5.5oz) to World War II. However, the cocktail culture artistic symbol for America’s prevailing spirit.
300ml (10oz)

THE MODERN COCKTAILS: HOW THEY CAME TO BE

Modern cocktails are generally VODKA Russian followed in 1965 –
described as those that were essentially a Black Russian with
created from the end of BLACK RUSSIAN (1949) / WHITE cream. Then came the invention
Prohibition to the end of the ’90s. of the Vodka Martini, the
While the Prohibition era saw the RUSSIAN (1965) popularity of which skyrocketed
invention of cocktails designed In the 1930s, vodka was still a when it became James Bond’s
to mask the presence of illegal little-known spirit and martinis drink of choice. Purists will insist
spirits, the mid ’30s to the end were only made with gin. that a real martini should be made
of the ’50s was an era of greater A couple decades and some only with gin, but both versions
innovation. Cocktail parties seriously successful marketing are still popular today.
evolved into sophisticated affairs, campaigns later, vodka became
with intricate appetisers being something of a household name. COSMOPOLITAN (1934)
served with drinks. Bartenders In 1949 a Belgian bartender had The origin of the Cosmopolitan
experimented with more herbs, the bright idea of mixing vodka is widely disputed – various
fruits and spices to create and coffee liqueur, and the Black bartenders in the United States
elaborate concoctions. Russian was born. The White claim to have invented its modern

27

CocktailHistory_THIRST_3.indd 27 1/3/2017 9:34:20 PM