Not Every Mixed Drink is a Cocktail

Now that you have started to become a cocktail aficionado , the next step is to
understand the drinks themselves . These days , people worldwide use the term
“cocktail” for almost anything with alcohol in it , so it may surprise you to learn that
a cocktail is merely one classification of mixed drinks . Below is a bevy of boozy
combinations , the correct terms for them , and the basic rules of thumb that you
need to create them :

COBBLER : spirit or wine + sugar over crushed ice , often garnish with fruit.
In its day , the cobbler was the drink and is relatively simple construction of spirit ,
sugar and fruit mixed thoroughly with ice and served with straws was fairly
groundbreaking .
When the cobbler first appeared in the 1830s , the use of ice and drinking straws
was new and novel . While it’s true that the modern paper straw wasn’t patented
until 1888 , straws used fifty years earlier were just what the name says :straw .
Usually the dried hollow stalk of a rye , cut to length , would be served with the
cobbler , perhaps the first drink to call for its use .
The name “cobbler” is thought to come from the small chunks of ice filling the drink
like cobblestones used in paving .

DAISY : spirit + liqueur + citrus .

The Daisy represents a slight modification of the Fix , both drinks being a single
serving variation of a punch . The key difference with a Daisy , however , is that it
uses either grenadine or raspberry syrup as its sweetener . Citrus juice and a spirit
would be added to the syrup . This would be poured into a goblet filled with shaved
or crushed ice and the garnished with a variety of fruits and berries .

SOUR : spirit + citrus + sugar .Generally the ratio is 2 parts spirit + 1 part each sour
(citrus)and sugar
You can always perceived the sour as a simplification of a punch . It represents a
fairly important category of mixed drink . It’s embodied not only in in the whiskey
sour but also in the Pisco Sour and the cosmopolitan .
At its core is a careful balance of of a sweetener and a sour ingredient like lemon or
lime juice . This is combined with the base spirit and then mixed with ice .

FIZZ : similar to the sour (2 parts spirit , 1 part sweet , 1 part sour ) with added club
soda and an optional egg variation .
It’s easy to confuse a a Fizz with a Collins since the ingredients are essentially the
same . The Fizz has , however ,some slight differences . In a Fizz , the spirit ,
sweetener and citrus should be shaken first with ice before straining it into an ice-
filled glass , it’s then topped with club soda .
Another difference is that , unlike the Collins , there are possible variations of the
fizz. For example , a Silver Fizz includes the white of one egg , a Golden Fizz uses the
yolk .
FLIP : spirit + sherry + egg + sugar

A flip is an egg-based drink made by combinig a spirit and /or wine with a
sweetening ingredient and a whole egg . The ingredients are shaken with ice or
rolled back and forth between two glasses before they are strain into a wine glass
and garnished with nutmeg.

SMASH : spirit + fruit /and or herb + sugar + citrus build in the tall glass is served in
As we’ve noted . Jerry Thomas described the smash as a “julep in a small plan” and
such it is . While a julep is usually a large drink savored lovingly while sipped
through straws , a smashed is prepared quickly , served in a smaller glass and
consumed as a common mixed drink . The ingredients are crushed mint a sweetener
and some spirit . The mixture is shaken with ice and the strain and it’s poured into
an ice-filled glass .

PUNCH : One rule of thumb is for punch is spirit + spice + sugar + citrus + water (or
tea). Can also have this ratio : 1 part sour + 2 parts sweet + 3 parts strong (spirit) + 4
parts weak (mixer).
The word is thought to have come from the Hindi word “panch” , which means five .
With this in mind , it is not surprise that classical punch is made from the
combination of five ingredients :spirit, citrus, sugar, spice and water .
Originally punch served groups from a large bowl . Over time it worked its way to a
single serving recipes . In many ways , the more modern exotic drinks of the “Tiki
Bar” era were simple single serving punches ..

SWIZZLE : spirit + lime + bitters + sugar + crushed ice + built in the glass it is served
in and vigorously stirred (swizzle ) until the outside of the glass is frosted .
The swizzle takes its name from the slightly unique manner in which is made .
A specially made swizzle stick , which has prongs radiating from its base , is spun
between the palms to froth or swizzle the spirit , citrus juice and sweetener that is in
the ice-filled glass or pitcher .

COCKTAIL: spirit + sugar + water (can be ice) + bitters.

The cocktail , as we’ve already seen , was initially defined as “spirits of any kind ,
sugar, water and bitters”. This was a pretty safe definition until the later half of the
19th century when cocktails might have the sugar replaced by a fortified wine like
vermouth or augmented with a little citrus . Bitters , however , would still be at the
core of almost every cocktail , at least until prohibition .
BUCK
It might take more than a quick glance at various bartender manuals to differentiate
a buck from a rickey , a Collins or a Fizz . Traditionally , however , a buck should use
ginger ale instead of club soda for carbonation . The ginger ale also provides
sweetening and so no sugar is added .
A buck is a combination of spirit, ginger ale and lemon juice in a tall ice-filled glass .

COLLINS
Collins is a sour served in a fairly tall glass with ice and club soda . The drinks is
usually made by mixing lemon juice , sweetener and spirit in an ice-filled glass
topped with club soda . Today , Collins is best now in the form of the gin-based Tom
Collins .

EGGNOG
We all know eggnog as a traditional Christmastime drink . Unfortunately our
disposition toward eggnog may be colored by the horrid mixture that comes out of
a cardboard cartoons.
However , a traditional eggnog is made with some type of spirit (rum or brandy
most prefered ) , eggs , milk and sugar .

JULEP
The julep has gone through a variety of transformations over the centuries.
Original the term referred to a strictly medicinal potion , but in the American South
it was used to describe a heavily iced beverage combining sugar and mint to a spirit .
Just as a cocktail can be described as a “bittered sling” a julep can be described as a
“minted sling” .

SLING
Rarely available today , the sling could be viewed as the precursor to the cocktail .
To provide and appropriate context for the consumer of its day , the original
definition for the cocktail was a bittered sling . The sling is made with any spirit
combined with a sweetening ingredient and water . Similar to the Toddy , however
the sling uses cold water / or ice to make it a cold drink instead of a warm one .

THE BASIC KIT

Jigger
Cocktail Shaker
Bar Spoon
Strainer
Cocktail Glasses