"The cocktail may be considered an American concoction, but its roots stretch back to 18th century London. Jared Brown reveals the drink's curious, homegrown origins."
Fermented beverages been around for ages, in the 17th century London turned from drinking ale and cider practically overnight. Do to a "health problem" a lot of people left the country, bringing the profit down. The first places that start issuing hard alcohol was the Pharmacy, the second medical patent, issued in 1712, was for Stoughton's Elixir, an alcohol-based medicinal bitters. It wasn't long after when public houses start delivering and introducing it to large public, mainly gins, it is thought that 1 in every 4 public houses had their own distillery, growing more and more the consumption of alcohol. The most common use of the term “cocktail” at the time was in reference to a horse with its tail cut short to indicate it was of mixed breed. One colic remedy found in veterinary manuals from the period blended water, oats, gin and ginger. We are in the midst of a new Cocktail Renaissance, the like of which the world has never seen. There are more great bars and bartenders now than at any time in history (many of them point London as inspiration). America stakes its claim to the cocktail’s surge in popularity in part through the work of Jerry Thomas, a Connecticut native who in 1862 wrote the first book to contain a section of cocktail recipes. Historians have gone so far as to call the American the father of modern bartending, but he actually worked in London prior to penning this pioneering tome.
In 1869, the first British book containing cocktail recipes was published: William Terrington's Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks. Reaching back to that first use of the word cocktail, his first recipe was for a Gin Cocktail made with brandy or gin, ginger syrup, aromatic bitters, and a splash of water.
Diogo Teixieira is based in the Algarve, Portugal and has spent over 12 years working behind and managing bars. His passion is everything bar tending and he wants to share his extensive knowledge and day to day with others.