Does anybody know where the word "cocktail" comes from? --AxelBoldt
No, but shouldn't "black cow" be "brown cow"? At least that's what it is in Ohio (USA). And I've heart of "Virgin Daquari" (spelling?), but not "Virgin Mary" (as a drink, anyway). What about the "Shirley Temple"? -- Marj Tiefert
- A Virgin Mary is just a Bloody Mary without alcohol. Same thing for Virgin/Bloody Caesar. --STG
The tradition of calling non-alcoholic drinks "virgin" came from analogy to "virgin mary", which was coined to describe bloody mary mix without the vodka. All other uses of "virgin" should be considered references to that. --LDC
- Do layered shots belong on this list - you know, the rather crudely named Quick Fucks, Cocksucking Cowboys and the like? --Robert Merkel
- By the way, to whomever deleted this, I am not trying to be crude for the sake of it here. At least in Australia, the above rather lewd names are the only names these drinks have. Hence, to ask a question about them, I need to refer to them by name. --Robert Merkel
As a former professional in the field (with considerable experience on both sides of the bar), I would classify "shooters" as a category separate from "cocktails". And the article about shooters should mention that obscene names are just part of the tradition of shooters. On the other hand, a "purple hooter" is a cocktail, not a shooter, so I suppose a few names like that will sneak into the cocktail list as well. --LDC
- I agree with Lee -- with the same background. i would also add that there are often identical cocktails with different names (and conversely, different cocktails with the same name, depending upon the region). For example, in the western US, we don't drink brown cows -- we drink root beer floats -- and they would NEVER appear on a virgin cocktail list! Also, a mind eraser in GA is vodka, kahlua, and coke -- here in WA, it's got a bunch of other stuff (including Bailey's, I think ). Oh -- and I would add sex on the beach to the cocktail category...JHK
- Bartending helped me through college. :) JHK, I wouldn't consider a brown cow (which term was used by my family, who lived in the South but were from the West, go figure) as a virgin cocktail but as an ice cream drink. --Dmerrill
- Exactly, Dmerrill! Real bars don't serve ice-cream drinks! (although a few chain restaurants here in the states are breaking that 'rule'. It's on my list of things not to do -- like make blue drinks and anything that needs a blender! But I will muddle! JHK
I'm afraid real bars pretty much have to have blenders these days, and you have to go out of your way to order a non-blended Margarita (and for that matter, a gin Martini in some places), so you've lost that battle. You'll be glad to know that I've never owned a bottle of blue Curaçao, though. --LDC
New question -- on Gimlets -- should it not specify Rose's lime juice, so that people don't think they can use Realime or something like that? JHK
How about "bottled sweetened lime juice, such as Rose's"? There do exist other brands, but I agree that more people will know what you're talking about if you mention Rose's. --LDC
JHK: just boldly edit!
I think we should list all mixed drinks here, including shooters and non-alcoholics, even if they're not technically cocktails. Though I don't feel strongly either way, as long as everything's nicely interlinked. Should we keep on capitalizing everything? Obviously one would capitalize Manhattan, Bloody Mary, etc., but gin and tonic seems odd as Gin and Tonic; or Root Beer Float instead of root beer float. --TheCunctator
Capitalization is a tricky issue: I agree that "root beer float" and "gin and tonic" seem right, but "martini" is an eponym from "Martini & Rossi vermouth", and "bloody Mary" just looks odd. They are "titles" in a sense. I'll have to do a print survey and see how books handle it. --LDC
Like Bartles and Jaymes, I thank you for your support, Lee! But I was seriously asking, because I don't want to edit boldly but stupidly ;-) Just so you know, I usually don't ask unless I am not sure, don't know, or (being a Socratic teacher type) because I want other people to also think about the ramifications about something before jumping in feet first! JHK