Birth of the word "cocktail"?

[bacchant036]

was reading 'rum' by hugh barty-king and anton massel the other day (which incidently is a damn fine book) and stumbled across a passage on the 'draque punch' or 'drac punch' a mix of rum, lime, mint sugar and water - which is seen as the father of the modern julep and the mojito, invented by a richard drake in the 1590's, which is interesting in itself (and amazing the cyclical way this flavour combo keeps grabbing our attention throughout the years), but then underneath theres a passage stating

" drac punch was traditionally served with a wooden spoon with a cock's tail handle, see theo mayerne, 'the distiller of london, 1639' "

has anyone seen this original document?

is there a prior reference?

was the word cocktail started in elizabethan england because of this mixed drink?

to me it just seems like way to much of a coincidence for it then to have started by any of the more widely known stories?

[slkinsey]

I posted this in another thread:

Actually, the first printed use of the word "cocktail" comes dates from May 13, 1806, in the magazine Balance and Columbian Repository of Hudson, New York.  It was a response to a letter to the editor of  asking about the meaning of the word:

Cocktail is a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters--it is vulgarly called a bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a Democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow anything else.

Since the word "cocktail" to describe a spiritous libation wasn't mentioned in print until 1806, I have a hard time believing it originates from a punch spoon used 200 years earlier.

That said, I suppose it's no less likely than any of the usual suspects.

[bacchant036]

don't dispute that the first use in print was the above, just wonder if this may have contributed to the origins of the word?

did it take this long to evolve into a printed word?

and could the changing definition be a similar situation to the way the word martini has changed in meaning?

just a thought

s

[slkinsey]

It's definitely interesting. I wonder whether a spoon (presumable a ladle) with a "cock's tail handle" was something commonly used, or if this was a common term.

[Splificator]

I wouldn't go putting too much credence in Barty-King and Massel; their book, although most useful and full of interesting stuff, lacks, let us say, scholarly rigor and is full of poorly grounded and undigested historical information.

In any case, I've paged through Mayerne's Distiller of London and don't recall seeing anything like the Draque in there, or the 1590 rooster-tail spoon (I'll give it another look-see next time I'm at the New York Public Library, just in case). But even if it is in there, it remains to be explained how the term lay dormant for 216 years, only to crop up again in the Hudson Valley among folks among whom the use of the rooster-tail spoon was, as far as I know, completely unknown (the earliest cocktails would have been stirred with a "toddy-stick," a slender muddler-type device made out of wood or metal, rather than a spoon).

[ThinkingBartender]

Hi Steve,

There is another drink called El Draque, but this is named after Sir Francis Drake.

The precursor of the Mojito, the Draque or Draquecito and was prepared at that time with Brandy, water, lime juice, sugar and yerbabuena. Yerbabuena is not indigenous of Cuba, but was brought in the island by African slaves from Haiti.

It should also be noted that Yerbabuena is a name that refers to many different types of mint. I saw the proper name for the Cuban mint somewhere.

The Draque, named after Sir Francis Drake (called in Spanish, El Draque). Apparently it was his favourite drink before doing battle in the Caribbean sea. The Draque developed in the mid-nineteenth century, into a rum based drink with the arrival of Senor Don Facundo Bacardi in Cuba.

Cheers!

George

p.s. I see you guys lost out to "Inn the Park" for Best Design. Guess who did their huge cocktail list of 6 drinks? (moi). JUG OF MOJITO!!!! arrrrgh!!!!

Reference: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...952&mode=linear

[bacchant036]

same drink,

although what i've got reads...

"what was known as draque, drak, or drac derived its name from richard drake, to whom in 1593 queen elisabeth I granted the first monopoly license for the production of aqua-composita, aqua vitae, vinegar, alegar and other spirits, as a reward for his services under sir francis drake, to whom he was not related"

[bacchant036]

oh, and ben just picked up 1st in the international sputnik comp in russia. love the grass on inn the park!

[Jmahl]

Grossman's Guide (77) says that the origin if Cocktail is muddled a best but one story is that a Betsy Flanagan from Yorktown NY was responsible. Supposedly, in 1779 Betsy's tavern was the meeting place of Washington's and French officers. There to kick back some bracers Betsy was teased about her Tory neignbor's fine flock of fowl. As payback for the teasing, she served up Tory Chicken on the next visit with a cock's tail feather stuck in each bracer that she served. A toast was called for and a Frenchman toasted " Vive le cock tail" Believe it or not.