County, Connecticut.
1790 − Jean-Jacob Schweppe makes artificial mineral water.
1791 − George Washington imposes a whiskey tax.
1792 − Pernod absinthe is produced.
1795 − Old Jake Beam Sour Mash whiskey is introduced.
1796 − Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry is produced.
1791 − George Washington becomes a whiskey distiller.
1798 − Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown are credited with finding the most current recording of the word “cocktail.” On Friday, March 16, the Morning Post and Gazette in London, England, reported that a pub owner won a lottery and erased all his customers’ debts:
A publican, in Downing-street, who had a share of the 20,000 l. prize, rubbed out all his scores, in a transport of joy: This was a humble imitation of his neighbor, who, when he drew the highest prize in the State Lottery, not only rubbed out, but actually broke scores with his old customers, and entirely forgot them.
−Four days later, on Tuesday, March 20, the customer’s debts were published in the same newspapers. The word “cocktail” appears:
“Mr. Pitt, two petit vers of “L’huile de Venus”
Ditto, one of “perfeit amour.”
Ditto, “cock-tail.” (Vulgarly called ginger.)
−Esteemed spirits and drink historian David Wondrich is of the opinion that the usage of the word “cocktail” (at this time) came from the horse trade. He learned that to make an older horse you were trying to sell look frisky, one would use a chunk of ginger (probably peeled) as a suppository that would cock up the horse’s tail.
−The cocktail John Collins is invented in London.
1800s
Cocktails and cocktail making took the stage with a bright white spotlight in the 1800s and American bartenders were the cocktail stars of the whole world. They wore pressed jackets, diamond tiepins, crisp collared shirts; basically, they dressed to the nines. The first recipe books were published, the availability of pond ice (and later, artificial ice) were game changers, and the golden age of the cocktail shone the brightest it has to date. The position of a bartender—even though blue collar—was seen as the aristocracy of the working class. In those days, you had to be a bartender apprentice for several years before you could be a bartender. One celebrity bartender, Jerry Thomas, traveled the world with a set of solid silver bar tools and he published the first known American cocktail recipe book, Bar-Tender’s Guide, How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant’s Companion in 1862.
This century began with an American population of around five million and by 1899 unbelievably increased to a staggering seventy million. Much advancement happened during this time that laid the foundation for the next century. This included gas lighting, sewing machines, the telegraph, Morse code, bicycles, typewriters, mail order catalogs, Coca-Cola, matchbooks, and ice delivery. Moreover, like always, only the wealthy were able to enjoy these modern inventions in the beginning.
These times brought on civilized behavior with new technological advances. A prominent white man at a fancy bar could order a cobbler, crusta, flip, grog, Champagne Cocktail, Manhattan, Earthquake, Martinez, Old-Fashioned, Hailstorm, Rob Roy, Tom & Jerry, Snow-Storm, Roffignac, Eye-Opener, Ramos Gin Fizz, Sazerac, Santa Cruz Punch, smash, Stone-Fence, sour, toddy, or Tom Collins.
Some names of alehouses, taverns, saloons, and bars include Bull and Mouth, Bush Tavern, Chapter House, Crystal Palace Saloon, Golden Cross, Grove House Tavern, Hustler’s Tavern, Jack’s Elixir Bar, Knickerbocker Saloon, Iron Door Saloon, McSorley’s Old Ale House, Old Absinthe House, Pete’s Tavern, the Bucket of Blood, the Cock Tavern, the Imperial Cabinet, the Stag Saloon, the Village Tavern, Tujague’s, Occidental, and White Horse Tavern.
Drinking words heard in the 1800s include “above par,” “a bit on,” “a couple of chapters into the novel,” “a cup too much,” “a date with John Barleycorn,” “a drop too much,” “a little in the suds,” “a public mess,” “a spur in the head,” “at peace with the floor,” “been looking through a glass,” “banged up on sauce,” “can’t see a hole in a ladder,” “corked,” “dead to the world,” “doped up,” “drunk as Bacchus,” “drunk as forty billy goats,” “feeling glorious,” “fired up,” “fog driver,” “full to the brim,” “ginned,” “lifting the little finger,” “lushed,” “moonshined,” “off the deep end,” “moistening the clay,” “of flip & c,” “phlegm-cutter,” “piece of bread and cheese in the attic,” “polished,” “quenching a spark in the throat,” “sloshed,” “stinking,” “soaked,” “swazzled,” “tanked,” “wetting the whistle,” “woozy,” and “whacked out of one’s skull.”
New brands and spirits launched include Averna, Black & White Scotch, Beefeater gin, Boodles gin, Canadian Club whisky, Cherry Heering, Don Q rum, Galliano, George Dickel whiskey, Grand Marnier, Johnnie Walker Scotch, Herradura tequila, Pimm’s No. 1, Rose’s lime juice, Sauza tequila, Seagram’s 7 whisky, vermouth, Seagram’s VO whiskey, Tanqueray gin, Fundador Spanish brandy, Lillet, Myers’s dark rum, and Lemon Hart rum.
1801 − Chivas Regal Scotch is produced.
1803 − On April 28, the first known American recorded use of the word “cocktail” as a beverage appeared in New Hampshire’s newspaper the Farmer’s Cabinet:
−“Drank a glass of cocktail—excellent for the head…Call’d at the Doct’s. found Burnham—he looked very wise—drank another glass of cocktail.”
1806 − The second American recorded use of the word “cocktail” as a beverage appeared in Hudson, New York’s the Balance and Columbian Repository (No. 18 Vol. V) on May 6:Rum! Rum! Rum!
It is conjectured, that the price of this precious liquor will soon rife at Claverack since a certain candidate has placed in his account of Loss and Gain, the following items:
Loss. 720 rum-grogs, 17 brandy do., 32 gin-slings, 411 glasses bitters, 25 do. Cock-tail
My election.
Gain. NOTHING.
−There was an election in Claverack, New York, and it was common (in those days) to try to win votes with free booze. The loser published his Loss and Gains in this local newspaper. Translation for 25 do. = $25 and $25 = $600 in 2017.
−Seven days later, the newspaper’s twenty-eight-year-old editor, Harry Croswell of Columbia County, New York, publishes the “first definition of cocktail” known to be an alcoholic beverage—to date—on May 13. Croswell rarely publishes anything he says but makes an exception this time to answer a question from a subscriber.
−The subscriber writes:
To the Editor of the Balance:
Sir,
I observe in your paper of the 6th instant, in the account of a democratic candidate for a seat in the legislature, marked under the head of Loss, 25 do. cock-tail. Will you be so obliging as to inform me what is meant by this species of refreshment? Though a stranger to you, I believe, from your general character, you will not suppose this request to be impertinent.
I
