Any mixed drink with at least one alcoholic ingredient can be called a cocktail. There are several stories that have been propounded as to how mixed drinks got the name - cocktails. One of them states that, feather from the rooster tails were originally used for stirring these mixed drinks and mixed drinks got their name from this practice.
No one really knows as to when the first cocktail was made, but it is widely believed that it was during the prohibition years in America that Cocktails became popular. Two reasons for this could have been the need to camouflage alcoholic beverages from the prying eyes of law enforcers and also to mask the unpleasantness of crudely manufactured alcohol.
Most cocktails have what is known as a structure, which is basically made of
**Base: ** The main alcoholic beverage in a cocktail. Most cocktails have at least 30, 45 or 60 ml of the base in them. When a cocktail has more than one alcoholic component in relatively equal strengths, any one of them can be assumed to be its base.
**One or More Mixers: ** The beverage(s) that is added to modify the base spirit. These can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Most cocktails would have at least 30 ml of mixers in them, though there are rare cocktails which have far fewer amounts of mixers. The commonly used mixers are soda, soft drinks, and other alcoholic beverages.
**The Accents: ** Highly flavorful additions to add that little bit extra into a cocktail. These are added in small quantities. Examples of commonly used accents are lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Grenadine, Salt, Pepper etc
**Ice: ** Often not given its due importance(it should however be mentioned that there are cocktails that are prepared without adding ice too). The type of Ice used does affect the final output. Contrary to popular belief too much of ice in a shaker, does not dilute a drink, in fact it works the other way around. More ice means faster chilling, before much of ice can melt, this way you get a reasonably chilled cocktail that is not too dilute. However in cocktails where ice is left behind in the drink or blended into the drink, the amount of ice needs to be as per recipe requirements.
**Garnish: ** This is something that adds to the visual appeal of a cocktail. Once again not all cocktails are garnished. A garnish when used needs to be specific, especially with classical cocktails. Just to emphasize what I am stating, a drink made of one part of Gin and one sixth parts of Vermouth(dry) and garnished with a stuffed olive is called Martini; the same drink with a pickled onion garnish is called Gibson.
**Terms associated with cocktail making:
Building: ** Adding one ingredient after another into the glass(usually the same glass in which the drink will be served), used to make the most cocktails that have ingredients that would easily mix with one another.
**Stirring: ** When one ingredient is stirred into another in what is known as a mixing glass, the contents are later transferred to the glass in which the drink will be served. This method is recommended when the cocktails have ingredients that don’t mix all that easily.
**Shaking: ** This method uses what is known as a cocktail shaker. All ingredients including ice are added into the shaker and shaken vigorously(the rule is that one should not rock a cocktail to sleep … so the stress is on vigorous). Longer the time taken to shake a drink the more dilute it gets. The method is best when ingredients like cream, milk; thick fruit juices etc are involved.
**Blending: ** The latest in the series of cocktails use the electric blender/ mixer to combine ingredients; this method is put to use especially when ingredients like fruits(bananas, strawberries), ice creams etc are involved, which would not blend even with vigorous shaking.
**Floating: ** Is a variation of building, just that in this case the beverages are carefully floated on top on one another(taking advantage of the difference in their density and immiscibility) so that several layers can be formed. If the beverages used are of different colors the result can be spectacular. Pousse café is a generic name given to cocktails that are made of several layers of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages with different colors. These are often made and served even in test-tubes(rather than conventional glasses). Also they are appreciated more for their visual appeal rather than their taste!
**Rimming: ** Cocktail glasses are usually rimmed with salt or castor sugar. This has to be done before the drink is poured into the glass. To rim a glass with salt, take a saucer and spread out a thin layer of salt on it. Then the lip of the glass is moistened with a little lime juice and then the glass is placed on the saucer, in such a way that the lip takes a light coating of the salt. To rim with sugar, the lime juice is often replaced with egg white.
**Frosting: ** most cocktails are served in chilled glasses(incase you don’t have a glass chiller, you may add a couple of ice cubes to the glass a few minutes before using it, the same can be thrown away once the glass needs to be used). To frost a glass, just place a moist glass in your freezer for some time.
**Tips on Cocktails: **
It is nice to stock a variety of glassware of different shapes and sizes if you are serious about trying your hand at cocktails.
While entertaining friends to a round of drinks, prepare the cocktails last, because most cocktails separate if made and kept. Amongst cocktails prepare the ones with fizzy ingredients last so that they retain the fizz.
Never put carbonated beverages into a shaker or a blender.
Never fill a cocktail glass up to its brim, firstly there is scope for spillage and secondly it is difficult to drink. Half an inch below the lip of the glass is an accepted standard.
While using fresh fruits juices, remember that citrus fruits removed directly from the fridge yield lesser juices. You may also try micro-waving the fruits for a few seconds to make it easier to extract juice.
Always handle glasses by the base or the stem, never by the lip or the sides.
Be consistent with your measures, that way you get a standard product all the time.
If you have made cocktail say for four people at one go, while pouring it fill up each of the four glasses little by little rather than one glass at a time, this way the cocktail gets evenly distributed.
It is ideal to use crushed ice or shaven ice while blending a cocktail in a mixer.
You can be creative with the ice that you use, by freezing water with colorful food stuffs like cherries, olives, small edible flowers, mint sprigs etc…so that you have fancy ice cubes with some color inside them. You may also use colored or flavored water for making ice cubes.
Be creative with drinks as well, try out new combinations, but never experiment them on your guests. Ideally a new drink needs to be tried, tested and perfected before it can be successfully introduced to your friends.
**REMEMBER, THERE ARE SEVERAL COMBINATIONS THAT DON’T WORK, NONE WORSE THAN DRINKING AND DRIVING. **