As I was going about my morning I found myself thinking about a rather unique coffee table that had been described to me the day before,except instead of mentally calling it a coffee table I substituted cocktail table. I then found myself wondering how the word cocktail ended up meaning mixed drink,here is what I found.
Although there is no exact answer to this question,and not all mixed drinks are considered cocktails,these are some of the more interesting explanations. Rumor has it that bartenders used to drain of the dregs of all the barrels,mix them together and serve them at a reduced price. Cock was another word for spigot and the remains of the barrels were the tailings so the resulting drink was called cock-tailings. A more simple theory is that a potent drink will "cock your tail",or get your spirits up. Another possibility comes from a non-thoroughbred horse being called a cock-tail,as their tails were bobbed to denote their mixed breeding,and a cocktail drink is a mix of spirits. None of these are cast in stone nor are they the only offerings as to the origins of the word,there are nearly as many explanations as there are cocktails!
Although there is no exact answer to this question,and not all mixed drinks are considered cocktails,these are some of the more interesting explanations. Rumor has it that bartenders used to drain of the dregs of all the barrels,mix them together and serve them at a reduced price. Cock was another word for spigot and the remains of the barrels were the tailings so the resulting drink was called cock-tailings. A more simple theory is that a potent drink will "cock your tail",or get your spirits up. Another possibility comes from a non-thoroughbred horse being called a cock-tail,as their tails were bobbed to denote their mixed breeding,and a cocktail drink is a mix of spirits. None of these are cast in stone nor are they the only offerings as to the origins of the word,there are nearly as many explanations as there are cocktails!
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