Although “cocktail” is the catchall term for any alcoholic mixed drink, it’s truly a rather strange, nonsensical descriptor for such concoctions. There are no Latin roots that offer an explanation, and when considering the name at face value — a rooster’s tail — it doesn’t really clear anything up, either.
Although the term first appeared in print in 1798, it wasn’t until 1806 that “cocktail” shared the definition it bears today. As “The Balance and Columbian Repository of Hudson, New York” put it, a cocktail is “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters — it is vulgarly called bittered sling.” Concerning that last part, mixed drinks containing alcohol, whether that be punches, slings, cobblers, or juleps, were all enjoyed long before the umbrella term “cocktail” entered the zeitgeist.
Timelines and definitions aside, the word’s true origins remain a mystery. However, there are a handful of theories and here, we’ll get into the most common of the bunch, in order of most questionable to most plausible.
Princess ‘Cocktail’
One rather shaky theory points to the Aztecs of Mexico, a civilization that lasted from the 14th century to the early 16th century A.D. As the story goes, Xōchitl (spellings vary) was a princess whose name was inspired by the Aztec goddess of fertility and love, Xochiquetzal. Legend has it that Xōchitl’s father once ordered her to whip up a mixed drink for a guest, and retellings of the story saw her name morph into “cocktail.”
There are a couple of problems with this theory. First of all, other than this being a popular origin story online, there are no bona fide historical accounts that confirm this tale. Additionally, some sources even theorize that Xōchitl served drinks to visiting American soldiers, which is pretty implausible given that the Aztec civilization fell in 1521 amid the Spanish conquest led by Hernán Cortés. All in all, it’s just a fun musing with nothing more than hearsay to back it up.
The Betty Flanagan Theory
Another popular, yet unlikely, origin story claims that the term was coined by Virginia-based tavern owner Elizabeth a.k.a. Betty Flanagan in 1779. According to James Fenimore Cooper’s 1821 novel “The Spy,” “Betty had the merit of being the inventor of that beverage which is so well known, at the present hour, to all the patriots who make a winter’s march between the commercial and political capitals of this great state, and which is distinguished by the name of ‘cocktail.’” Cooper goes on to note that the concoction was an “improvement in liquors” that contained mint procured from her customers, but was distinctly different from a julep.
Although this story sounds promising initially, writer William Grimes notes in his book “Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail” that Flanagan was actually a fictional character. According to Grimes’ book, Cooper’s novel “relied on oral testimony of Revolutionary War veterans,” so it’s possible that Flanagan did exist and serve “cocktails,” but the tale’s lack of substantial credibility leaves it low on the plausibility scale.
Cock Ale to Cocktail
Oh, Cock Ale, the strange 1600s slurry of ale, parboiled chicken, fruits, and spices allegedly beloved by British royalty. Given the numerous documented recipes for the beverage, there’s no doubt that cock ale enjoyed a bona fide heyday. However, it’s been theorized that both the beverage and its name morphed over the years, paving the way for the term “cocktail” to be applicable to mixed drinks containing liquor and other liquid elements — hold the chicken.
Since the names are so similar, it’s not a far-flung assumption. Plus, cock ale’s popularity was waning around the same time that “cocktail” entered the British and American vernaculars as a term for mixed drinks. But unfortunately for this tale, there’s no evidence to back it up other than the congruence between the two names.
Cola de Gallo
According to the late bartender Gary “Gaz” Regan, a 1936 edition of the British publication “The Bartender” outlines another origin story for the term, noting that English sailors used to enjoy mixed drinks in Mexican taverns. Allegedly, the bartenders stirred their drinks with “the fine, slender and smooth root of a plant which owing to its shape was called Cola de Gallo, which in English means ‘Cock’s tail.’” From there, the term allegedly traveled back to England and later America, eventually becoming synonymous with mixed drinks.
While seemingly sound in theory, both the fact that this is the only publication to relay this particular story and the fact that it refrains from offering any dates or specific people makes it a tough one to buy into.
Americans Trying to Pronounce ‘Coquetier’
Just a year after the story from “The Bartender” made it to print, another theory on the term’s origins appeared in Stanley Clisby Arthur’s book “Famous New Orleans Drinks & How to Mix ‘em.” In the guide, Arthur tells the story of how French refugee and apothecary Antoine Amedie Peychaud arrived in New Orleans, opened a business, and began selling his now iconic Peychaud’s Bitters. According to Arthur, Peychaud would mix his bitters with brandy and serve them in a French eggcup — known in Peychaud’s native land as a “coquetier.” Given that the French word is pronounced “coke-te-yay,” it’s believed that Peychaud’s non-French-speaking customers warped the word into “cocktail.”
While it may be one of the more believable hypotheses due to Peychaud’s Bitter’s profound impact on cocktail culture, the Sazerac Company reports that he didn’t open his apothecary until 1834. Given that the accepted definition of a “cocktail” was published 28 years prior, this origin story simply doesn’t check out.
To Cock a Horse’s Tail
Arguably the most plausible theory regarding the term’s origins stems from a rather uncouth, antiquated practice used to invigorate tired, old horses in the U.K.
As drinks historian David Wondrich notes in “The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails,” mixed drinks with booze and bitters were originally meant to be chugged first thing in the morning. “By the middle of the 1700s, the combination of Stoughton’s Bitters [the first patented bitters] and sweet wine, brandy, or even gin was well established in Britain and its American colonies, as either an eye-opener or preprandial tonic,” Wondrich writes. He then points to a 1798 satirical article from “London Morning Post & Gazetteer,” which mentions a drink listed as “Cock-tail, vulgarly called ginger.” Based on the drink’s low price, he deduced that it didn’t contain any booze.
Wondrich also points out that drinkers in the American colonies began attaching the name “Cock-Tail” to the combo of booze and bitters in the years leading up to 1800. “This was a bit of sporting-life British slang denoting a stimulant or pick-me-up, derived from the horse-trader’s practice of covertly inserting a ‘feague’ [raw piece] of ginger or cayenne pepper in an old or tired horse’s anus to make it cock its tail up and act lively,” he writes.
That’s right. The most promising theory of how the term “cocktail” came to be stems from livening up a horse with some spices in its rear end. As Wondrich writes in his 2007 book “Imbibe!” this tale “has the advantage of not only making sense but also being supported by actual evidence.” Everyone is entitled to believe whichever hypothesis they wish, but we’ll side with Mr. Wondrich on this one.
*Image retrieved from didesign via stock.adobe.com
