There are countless sources of the term cocktail, many as colorful as the drink itself, yet none are supported by documentary evidence. Yet there are a number of theories which are widely believed. We do know that the first definite reference to the term cocktail was in an edition of the New York paper Balance and Columbian Repository in 1806. When a reader asked the question “What is a cocktail?”, a respondent wrote “A cocktail, then, is stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind”. Therefore it is clear that the term was born before 1806, though the specific source of the term cannot be determined. Here are a number of theories, some for their persuasiveness and others for their colorful nature.

The first of these suggests that during colonial times drinks were decorated with a rooster’s tail (a cock’s tail). It is supposed that this was also designed as a sign of an alcoholic drink so not to mislead non-drinkers. There is no real evidence to back up this idea yet its simplicity gives credence to its merit.

Another convincing theory claims that bartenders used to adopt a waste-saving technique where they drained the dregs from barrels (the “tailings”, as it was known) and mix them together to create a drink they could sell over the bar on the cheap for less affluent customers. Cock was an old term used for the spigot of a barrel. Therefore this drink became known as the cock-tailings. It is highly possible that this was then shortened as cocktail, over time adopting a new meaning as the technique was abandoned. Again there is no real evidence to back up this theory yet it is another believable source of cocktail etymology.

There is also a conviction that cocktails were originally a morning tipple to perk the drinker up. The term cocktail therefore was adopted as a metaphor for the morning call of a rooster, being part of ones morning routine.

Another theory states that the name was adopted from an old term for non-thorough bred horses whose tails were cut, or cocked, to distinguish them from fine breeds and were consequently referred to as “cock-tail” horses. So as the horses were a mixture of breeds, a cocktail was a mixed drink. Both horse racing and drinking were very popular at this time so it easy to see how one may view more to this story than mere coincidence.

Yet another story which many claim holds the key to the source of the term comes from New Orleans around 1795 when a pharmacist named Antoine Peychaud served his own brandy concoction designed to remedy stomach complaints in his pharmacy. This drink was served in egg cups, or as the French would say a cocquetier, which became simplified to “cocktay” by his customers. It is supposed that this name was then adapted to cocktail and the name became synonymous with mixed drinks forevermore.

There are a host of other suggested sources of cocktail’s etymology such as that the term is quite simply related to the mixed coloring of a cock’s tail or that customers in certain bars in the 19th century tapped the tail of a rooster-shaped container, in which alcohol was stored, as a request for another drink. Therefore there is no way to be sure where the name came from. If anything a number of these may have some truth in them, or maybe they are all false and the real source of the etymology will never be known.

Author Bio: Cocktail Zen provides cocktail recipes and vodka drinks to any one with a web connection.

Category: Food and Drinks
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