Can আপনি imagine Churchill without a মার্টিনি in hand অথবা a book দ্বারা Hemmingway that didn’t describe copious ককটেল variations? But, have আপনি ever wondered where and when your পছন্দ 5 o’clock drink came from? Was a Manhattan truly invented in Manhattan? Where do Mojitos really come from? Who was Tom Collins anyway? Is a Mai Tai really Hawaiian? From the classic মার্টিনি to the lesser known Singapore Sling, here is a তালিকা of 10 classic cocktails and the often-controversial stories behind them.
Read away and the পরবর্তি time আপনি are downing your drink at your পছন্দ watering hole অথবা politely sipping your drink at a fancy ককটেল party, আপনি can impress your বন্ধু with your knowledge of where that delightful (or not so delightful) mixture of alcohols really originated.
1. The Mojito
The drink of sailors? Traditionally made using white rum, sugar অথবা sugar cane juice, lime, carbonated water and mint muddled together, many believe the Mojito is quite possibly world’s first cocktail. Although the image of hardened sailors drinking রাম mixed with mint, চুন and sugar may not match your vision of straight-from-the-bottle gulping pirates, the Mojito has been enjoyed as early as the 16th century.
One story traces the origins of the Mojito back to 16th century Cuba, where the drink was called the “El Draque” in honor of explorer and sailor Sir Francis Drake. Legend has it the drink was first created as a means of covering up the often harsh taste of tafia/aguardiente, a primitive form of rum. The drink improved greatly during the 19th century with the introduction of copper stills that led to the modern (and much better tasting) form of rum. The contemporary name for the drink probably comes from a Cuban sauce called mojo, which is made from garlic, জলপাই oil and citrus juice. Perhaps in reference to চুন as a main ingredient, the drink became known as a ককটেল with “a little mojo” or, in Spanish, a “Mojito.” While the Mojito may be one of the world’s first cocktails, it certainly has not waned in popularity over the years. In fact, the drink first invented to make bad রাম tolerable is now a widely জনপ্রিয় ককটেল around the world and is an especially জনপ্রিয় and refreshing summer drink.
2. The Singapore Sling
A classic ককটেল often appearing in various forms on drink menus around the world, the Singapore গুল্তি ছোড়া was appropriately first concocted in Singapore. While the exact বছর this ককটেল was created is open to some debate, most agree that the ককটেল was first created দ্বারা a Hainanese-Chinese bartender named Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar in Singapore. It is believed the bartender first mixed up the ককটেল sometime between 1910 and 1915.
The cocktail, which is made from a mixture of gin, চেরি ব্র্যান্ডি and Benedictine in equal parts with a dash of তিক্ত নাস্তোইকা শরাব and Cointreau and finished off with pineapple and চুন রস and grenadine, was modified in the middle of the 20th century দ্বারা the original creator’s nephew. The newer recipe has been used since and is the base for the modern Singapore Sling. In the Raffles Hotel Museum, visitors can view the নিরাপদ where Mr. Ngiam locked away all of his secret ককটেল recipe books.
Included is also a hastily written recipe for the Singapore Sling, which was jotted down in 1936 দ্বারা a visitor who asked the bartender for the recipe. Today, the drink is served on all Singapore Airlines flights and is mentioned in many জনপ্রিয় culture চলচ্চিত্র and books, including Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, in which lead character Raoul Duke talks about drinking “Singapore Slings with mescal on the side.” আপনি can also still order an original Singapore গুল্তি ছোড়া at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar, where প্রতীকী like Rudyard Kipling and others would once sip this famous, fruity cocktail.
3. The Sidecar
A classic ককটেল dating back about 100 years, the সাইডকার mixes equal parts ব্র্যান্ডি অথবা Cognac, Cointreau and লেবু juice. The origin of the সাইডকার is largely debated, but জনপ্রিয় wisdom is that the drink was probably first created in Paris sometime during অথবা just following WWI. In the 1948 book দ্বারা David A. Embury, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, the লেখক credits the invention of the drink to an American Army captain in Paris during WWI.
Supposedly the drink was named after the motorcycle সাইডকার “in which the good captain was driven to and from the little খাবারের দোকান where the drink was born and christened.” Harry’s Bar in Paris is the “little bistro” in which the লেখক is referring to and is often credited as the birthplace of this sweet yet tangy cocktail. Supposedly the mixture of ingredients was first blended when the American captain asked for pre-dinner ককটেল that would help ease the chill he had caught outside. The French bartender was faced with a dilemma. He knew ব্র্যান্ডি would be the best liqueur to take off the chill, but he also refused to serve the traditional after ডিনার drink alone as a pre-dinner cocktail. The result was the bartender mixing ব্র্যান্ডি with the কমলা flavored Cointreau and adding fresh লেবু রস to make an appropriate pre-dinner cocktail, and Voila – the সাইডকার was born.
This ককটেল was especially জনপ্রিয় in England and France, where ex-pats like Hemmingway would sip Sidecars at the bar. Although আপনি may have an eyebrow raised if আপনি are under 70 and ordering this drink today, the সাইডকার is regaining popularity and making a resurgence on contemporary bar menus.
4. The Pisco Sour
Another ককটেল on the তালিকা with a controversial history is the Pisco Sour. A drink made from Pisco (a regional ব্র্যান্ডি from South America), লেবু juice, তিক্ত নাস্তোইকা শরাব and egg whites, many বিতর্ক whether the national origin of this drink is Peruvian অথবা Chilean.
Pisco itself dates back to the 16th century. The liqueur distilled from grapes দ্বারা Spanish colonialists in South America in an attempt to make an inexpensive version of Spanish brandy. In Peru, the creation of the Pisco টক is attributed to American expatriate Victor “Gringo” Morris at the Morris Bar in Lima, who blended up the drink as a variation of a whiskey sour. The drink immediately became so জনপ্রিয় that other major hotels began serving it in their bars also, quickly popularizing the ককটেল with a international crowd.
In Chile, it is believed the birth of the Pisco টক can be attributed to the English steward of a sailing ship, which was stopped at the then Peruvian and now Chilean port city of Iquique in 1872. It was the steward, who দ্বারা mixing the regional liqueur with limes grown in the area, created the first Pisco Sour. Whatever the origins of the famous drink, the Pisco টক is the iconic ককটেল of both Peru and Chile. In fact, both countries celebrate the famous ককটেল with National Pisco টক Days (Peru’s in the first Saturday of February and Chile’s is celebrated May 15th) and there are many variations of the original ককটেল found around the world today.
5. White Russian
Not named for the country of its origin, but rather for the ভদকা used in the recipe, White Russians have recently made a booming resurgence in part due to the cult movie classic The Big Lebowiski. The movie’s main character, The Dude, drinks a steady stream of White Russians throughout the film. The use of the word Russian in the name of this drink was mostly due to the fact that when it was first invented sometime in the 1930s, prior to the huge ভদকা marketing campaign of the 1950s, when ভদকা was a little known liquor in the United States usually directly associated with its nation of origin, Russia.
The White Russian did not get its current recipe (the drink combines equal parts cream, ভদকা and Kahula) অথবা moniker until the 1960s. In 1961, the Diner’s Club Drink Book, gave a recipe for a “Black Russian” without cream, implying that the same ককটেল with cream would therefore be named a White Russian. Today White Russians have inspired a drinking game among college students, who try to keep up with The Dude in their consumption of the ককটেল while watching The Big Lebowski.
The drink is also the পছন্দ drink of lightweights and lushes, as White Russians effectively obfuscate the hefty dose of alcohol in them that they go down the hatch with ease. That’s great for those who rarely drink অথবা for those who drink a little too much (i.e. The Dude, who gets most of his daily nutrition from these creamy little cocktails).
5. The Manhattan
Often called the “King of Cocktails” অথবা the “Drinking Man’s Cocktail,” The Manhattan is a very potent drink and one of the legendary six classic cocktails included in David Embury’s famous book, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. The Manhattan is a ককটেল made with a mixture of whiskey, sweet ভার্মাউথ and তিক্ত নাস্তোইকা শরাব and garnished most often with a maraschino cherry.
Regularly regarded as one of the best cocktails ever created, the Manhattan has a long and debated history. The ককটেল was supposedly first invented at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the early 1870s. Legend has it that the drink was invented for a banquet hosted দ্বারা Lady Randolph Churchill (Winston Churchill’s mother) in honor of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. The success of the banquet quickly made the ককটেল fashionable in New York City’s powerful circles and prompted many people to request the drink দ্বারা referring to the name of the club where it originated, calling it “the Manhattan cocktail.”
However, like with almost every ককটেল on this list, there is great বিতর্ক as to the truth behind this account of the Manhattan. In fact, some claim that while the drink may have first been mixed at the Manhattan Club, Lady Churchill had nothing to do with the banquet honoring Samuel Tilden and, in fact, was in England at the time giving birth to her soon-to-be famous son. Another legend says that a bartender with the last name Black invented the Manhattan at a bar on Broadway in New York City sometime in the 1860s. Whatever the true story, this ককটেল does indeed ভালুক the name of the island from which it came.
6. The Mai Tai
The fruity, tropical Mai Tai is another ককটেল with conflicting stories of origin. The drink, which is made of a mixture of white and স্বর্ণ rum, pineapple juice, কমলা and/or চুন juice, is of American origin despite its Polynesian name. The favored history, however, is that the drink was first created দ্বারা Victor Buergon, better known as “Trader Vic” who invented the ককটেল at the Polynesian-style restaurant in Oakland, California that bore his name.
Supposedly, Buergon created the first Mai Tai in honor of some বন্ধু who were visiting from Tahiti in 1944. After mixing রাম with just the right combination of ফলমূল juices and কমলা flavored liqueur, he served the new ককটেল to his বন্ধু who cried out, “Maitai roa!” (which literally means “very good”), and the ককটেল was born. However, like most জনপ্রিয় cocktails, the Mai Tai’s history is not without controversy.
Trader Vic’s amicable rival, founding father of tiki restaurants, bars and সংগঠন Donn সৈকত (of Don the Beachcomber restaurants), also claims to have created in the first Mai Tai in 1933 at his newly opened restaurant in Hollywood. Donn সৈকত (the founder legally changed his name after the success of his tiki restaurant chain) is known as the originator of Polynesian style restaurants that became a জনপ্রিয় culture craze following WWII. While both men claim to be the original creator of this drink, the Mai Tai’s huge popularity can be mostly owed to both men, who sold the drinks in their wildly জনপ্রিয় restaurant chains and forever associated the fruity drink with Hawaii – despite its California origins.
7. Tom Collins
There are a few different legends surrounding the name of the famous and classic Tom Collins cocktail. While many assume the drink was named after a real person, there is much বিতর্ক whether there ever really was a Tom Collins and whether he lent to his name to this ককটেল of gin, লেবু and চুন রস and soda water. One জনপ্রিয় account says the ককটেল was named after not a Tom, but a John Collins who was a headwaiter at a লন্ডন Hotel in the early 19th century. The cocktail’s name was changed to a Tom Collins when Old Tom brand জিন (a sweetened জিন rarely used today) was substituted for the drier জিন in the original recipe.
Another story, which is the most probable of the various legends, involves a hoax that took over New York City in 1874. The prank went something like this: A friend would run into আপনি on the রাস্তা and, with great concern, tell আপনি he just overheard someone named Tom Collins at a bar down the রাস্তা saying hateful and libelous things about you. আপনি race to that bar to confront the bounder, where আপনি would be told that Tom Collins had just left for a bar several blocks away. When আপনি get there, Collins would already have decamped for another joint across town. As আপনি chase all over the city, your বন্ধু convulse with laughter. The prank gained such notoriety, that even local newspapers started reporting the hoax. In 1874, the Steubenville Daily Herald reported that the hoax caused “frantic young men to rush wildly through the streets of the city on Saturday hunting for the libelous Tom Collins.” These young men were often directed to find legendary Tom Collins at a local bar.
So how did the hoax turn into the name of a drink? According to দেওয়াল রাস্তা Journal columnist and ককটেল historian Eric Felten, “It doesn’t take much to imagine how Tom Collins came to be a drink. How many times does someone have to barge into a saloon demanding a Tom Collins before the bartender takes the opportunity to offer him a ককটেল so-named?” In any event, this জনপ্রিয় ককটেল has become a fixture in ককটেল culture, inspiring the name of a glass (a Collins glass) as well as a pre-mixed and জনপ্রিয় Collins Mix.
9. Bloody Mary
Like every other ককটেল on this list, the history behind the Bloody Mary is also a bit cloudy. One জনপ্রিয় legend says that the original Bloody Mary, which was then made using equal parts টমেটো রস and ভদকা and used as a hangover cure, was invented দ্বারা comedian, songwriter and movie producer George Jessel (aka the “Toastmaster General of the United States”). Jessel claimed he created the drink one morning in Palm সৈকত during the 1950s, when he mixed টমেটো রস and ভদকা as a way to recover from an entire night spent drinking. Jessel even appeared in Smirnoff ভদকা ads in the 1950s declaring, “I, George Jessel invented the Bloody Mary.” However, as aptly put দ্বারা দেওয়াল রাস্তা Journal columnist and ককটেল historian Eric Felten, “Given Jessel’s knack for self-promotion, many doubted his claim,” which made skeptics to খুঁজুন for the true origin of the drink and opened the door for a legend involving the head bartender at the St. Regis Hotel in New York named Fernand “Peter” Petriot.
Starting in the 1940s, Petriot was supposedly serving up Blood Marys under the alias of “Red Snappers” at the hotel’s King Cole Bar. After the জনপ্রিয় টমেটো রস based ককটেল became জনপ্রিয় in the 1950s, Petriot would claim that he actually first invented the ককটেল while working at Harry’s Bar in Paris during the 1920s (also supposed birthplace of the Sidecar). However, in reality, the Bloody Mary জনপ্রিয় today is in fact a combination of the two men’s creations. Petriot himself admitted that “George Jessel ব্যক্ত he created it, but it was really nothing but ভদকা and টমেটো রস when I took it over.” While Petriot did inadvertently give credit for the original drink to Jessel, he also specified that it was he who added salt, pepper, cayenne and Worcestershire sauce to the concoction, creating the modern Bloody Mary.
10. The Martini
And, last, but certainly not least, on this তালিকা of cocktails is the Martini. The most well-known of cocktails, Western culture has created quite the lore and mythology surrounding the drink. The three-martini lunch became a জনপ্রিয় phrase coined for expensive, long lunches taken দ্বারা business executives. In fact, the মার্টিনি has become আরো of a class of drinks than one drink in particular – with variations like Appletinis, ভদকা martinis and others becoming জনপ্রিয় over the years.
The famous and powerful people who have favored the simple, yet potent, original – Winston Churchill, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald to name a few – have only added to the lore of this জনপ্রিয় classic cocktail. The first মার্টিনি – অথবা Martini-like drink – was poured sometime between 1862 and 1871 and was called a Martinez, a name to honor the humble town of Martinez, California, where it was purportedly first dreamed up দ্বারা bartender Julio Richelieu, proprietor of the eponymous Julio Richelieu Saloon. That similar (but sweeter) version of the ককটেল consisted of sweet vermouth, gin, তিক্ত নাস্তোইকা শরাব and was garnished with a maraschino cherry. This version (which was essentially a জিন Manhattan) eventually gave way to the আরো contemporary drier version that includes gin, ভার্মাউথ and তিক্ত নাস্তোইকা শরাব and was supposedly first made জনপ্রিয় when John D. Rockefeller started downing them at the turn of the 20th century.
Although the origins of the first Martinez তারিখ back to the 1860s, the modern মার্টিনি first rose in popularity starting in 1900s. During prohibition, the মার্টিনি became the drink of choice (or no choice in many cases) in speakeasies across the country due to the quick accessibility and production of gin. In fact, it was often a জিন মার্টিনি অথবা no drink at all for customers hiding out in their secret watering holes. The modern ভদকা Martini, which James Bond stalwarts will surely order shaken not stirred, was not created until much later and many মার্টিনি purists still claim the idea of a মার্টিনি made with ভদকা is preposterous. A steadfast and iconic cocktail, however, the classic মার্টিনি is here to stay, whether made with ভদকা অথবা gin, dirty অথবা not, with varying amounts of vermouth, neat, অথবা over ice.
