Cocktails & Colours:
Today, the word “cocktail” is used to describe the collective group of mixed alcoholic drinks that we see on bar menus around the world. There was a point when they were, even more incorrectly, called “Martini lists” (a Martini is in that is chilled and mixed with vermouth, with the optional addition of bitters. It is not anything that is served in a cocktail glass that many referred to as a Martini glass — this is something that may have gotten lost in translation during prohibition). The hospitality industry has taken a giant leap forward in relearning knowledge on the subject over the past 10-15 years, and most professional and informed bartenders now understand a cocktail to be something made of spirit, water, sugar and bitters. My belief is that this knowledge is going to continue to grow until we are once defining drinks as Jerry Thomas did in 1862 in the first cocktail book ever written, How to mix Drinks or the Bon Vivant's Companion. In fact, some bars already do. Of course, as long as people make good quality drinks with great spirits and fresh ingredients, they are perfectly entitled to call them whatever they wish as far as I’m concerned. I must admit, however, that I am always impressed with some historical wisdom and understanding and the word “cocktail” just sounds better than anything else.
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