Post #136687 by Satan's Sin on Fri, Jan 21, 2005 9:22 AM

Kono --

Hold your head high if you're an American, for the cocktail is indeed an American invention.

The non-recipe books I've read about cocktails (and there are many, but may I recommend William Grimes's "Straight Up or On the Rocks, The Story of the American Cocktail") claim it was invented as early as the 1700s, and primarily to mask the horrid taste of home-brewed whisky and gin.

Cocktails soared in popularity during Prohibition precisely because of "bathtub" (homemade) gin, which, unless mixed with something sweet, was truly throat-gagging.

Booze has a history, and it is extremely fascinating. The origins of the word "cocktail" is itself lost to history, although there are many -- mostly funny -- explanations of how it was coined. Famous drinks also have a history. Did you know that the Martini -- invented in the 1860s -- was half gin and half vermouth? With a big dash of sugar syrup? Did you know that there was a fabulous 1880s drink called a Blue Blazer -- where the lighted ingredients were poured back and for from two tankards by a highly skilled barman, making for a stream of blue flame? Well, there's all this and more, if you care to explore our Precious Drinking Heritage. One chapter of which, of course, is the great Tiki Period.

It was extremely odd and extremely charming to be in Brussels -- as I mentioned in an earlier post -- and ask for the cocktail menu and be given a completely blank look. They really did not know what cocktails were.