Where did the term cocktail come from?
what was the first actual cocktail (mixed drink) ever quaffed? Where did the name even derive from? Hard to say on both counts, but rumors are as interesting as truths when spoken over the rim of a Martini glass. Read a dozen books and you’ll hear a dozen different explanations as to the origin of the modern cocktail. The Bartender’s Book, published in 1951 by the Bartender’s Union of New York, quotes a rather fanciful tale of “a Mexican Indian maiden named Xochtil, who served a mixed drink to an American general. The bluff military man was thankful, but being inclined to anglicize such heathen names, bestowed the name ‘Cocktail’ upon his now-favored tipple.” Unlikely, but a fine cocktail party story nonetheless. According to several sources, including the “History of Mixed Drinks and How to Make 42 Great Ones” pamphlet put out by the Southern Comfort Corp. throughout the 1960s and ’70s, the cocktail got its start during the Revolutionary War. Southern Comfort’s oft-repeated tale tells
