E
ven before the first recorded use of the term ‘cocktail’ –
as part of a satirical piece on the drinking habits of William
Pitt, the then-British Prime Minister, in a 1798 edition of The
Morning Post and Gazetteer, a London-based daily newspaper- intrepid long-distance seafarers were boldly imbibing alcoholic
beverages mixed with fruit juices in order to ward off scurvy. Indeed,
while cocktails first became popular in the US during the 1860s,
their precursors – sundry punches and toddies – had long been
commonplace in Britain and its many annexed territories.
Today, few alcoholic libations match the versatility of the cocktail,
with thousands of options on offer, ranging from the more familiar to
the more esoteric. Very much among the latter, for instance, is The
Forgotten Tonic, a redoubtable blend of Kummel Wolfschidmt liqueur,
Bols Genever, Bob’s cardamom bitters and tonic water.
Most cocktails, though, fall under one of two broad categories - fruit-forward cocktails and spirit-forward cocktails. The former
favours fruitier, sweeter elements that mask the strong taste of
alcohol and tends to consist of four primary elements – an alcohol,
something sweet, something sour and a wild card. In the Strawberry
Wine
38 igafencu.com
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OCKTALES