What is a Cocktail?

I received this query from one of my faithful readers.



Dear Professor
I was sitting around a local bar the other night when I got into a heated debate with a fellow patron on what is the definition of a cocktail. Can you enlighten us?

Sign Barfly

Well Barfly the answer is simple and then again maybe not. I define a cocktail as an alcoholic beverage that meets the following criteria.

1. Base Spirit (Whiskey, Gin, Vodka, etc.)

2. A Modifier (Vermouth, Bitters even fruit juices, tonics or sodas)

3. An Enhancer (Bitters again work here along with a twist or other garnish)

A Manhattan or Gin Martini are great examples of a Cocktail.

Manhattan
Base - Rye or Bourbon
Modifier - Sweet Vermouth
Enhancer - Bitters and a Twist

Now for the other types of drinks (Highballs for example) you generally see two types of ingredients.

Whiskey and Cola
Scotch and Soda
Rum and Cola

I like to call these types of drinks "emergencies." Now don't get me wrong I drink a lot (I mean a lot) of emergencies and really enjoy them, however there is nothing fancy about them and not what most consider a cocktail.

So Barfly there you have it and really not worth a heated discussion, simply sit back relax and enjoy your Cocktail or Emergency.

Cheers
The Professor

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Riding the Rails, Clickety Clack

Image
A few weeks back we took the Amtrak from K.C. to Naperville Ill. and as usual we had a great time. If you have never taken the opportunity to travel by train you do not know what you are missing. I recommend for your first trip nothing over four hours just in case you may not enjoy train travel. Also this will keep the price at a minimum and I recommend choosing your travel dates that are not during the peek seasons. (From around June 15th to August 15th.) to avoid high ticket prices You will be pleasantly surprised by the size of the train cars and the size of the seats. The cars are two levels with the lower level where you put your luggage when boarding, handicap seating and the rest room/changing rooms. We generally sit in the club car (now called the observation car) where they have many booths and seats and then entire care is plexieglass so you can see the beautiful sites as you travel. You can even carry on your own food and drinks and yes this means you can carry on your own
Read more

A Spittoon and a Blanket

Yes, what I really meant was a chamber pot; however at one in the morning staging down the long dim hallway with the creaky wooden floors and facing the long stairway down to the bathroom spittoon was all I could think of. The evening started innocent enough as we were traversing the interstate from K.C. MO to NW Iowa for a visit. I did not have a drink until after 5:00 and I was not driving, but as usually I never went anywhere without my trusty ten shot flask. That day it was loaded with Buffalo Trace Bourbon. By the way it had been awhile since I had imbibed in Buffalo Trace and I had forgotten how good it was. We arrived at the farm and continued happy hour. As the night progressed I opened the new bottle of Four Roses (the official Bourbon of MySideOfTheBar) that Central Patti had purchased as part of a case and kept drinking throughout the night. As the night progressed and the bottle emptied we headed up the afore mentioned stairs and to bed. I woke a couple of hours later a
Read more

The Key West Cocktail Challenge

Image
Recently we were on the road with MySideOfTheBar in Key West with a couple of "Unusual Suspect" friends of ours. As you might expect we were in a bar when A.S. found a brochure for the Key West Cocktail Challenge. Also as you might expect we took up the challenge. The premise was easy, visit 6 participating bars, enjoy their signature cocktail and you get a T-Shirt. You can visit them in any order and take as long as you need to. (you could even do it in 6 days, but...) I am not going to try to describe each bar as you can follow the links to see and learn more. The first stop was The Green Parrot Bar . The Green Parrot is an open air old school bar that I absolutely loved. Their signature drink was Root Beer Barrel and at least two of us liked it ;) Stop two took us to Charlie Mac's and beside the great Signature Drink, it is also a BBQ joint. We only had the chicken wings, however they were awesome. The drink here was the Huckleberry Lemonade and I have to
Read more