We’ve all been there. It’s Wednesday evening, you’ve just worked an 18 hour day, you’ve gotten into bed and are wishing for it to be the weekend so you can grab a few cocktails and relax. 

Just as the gift of sleep appears to be winging its way to your eyelids, you suddenly get that tiny voice in your head, that only comes alive once you’re too tired to function. 

“Hey, hey don’t fall asleep yet! You might be so tired that you could actually cry, but you absolutely need to Google ‘why are cocktails called cocktails?’ ”. So off we go, to the land of questionable knowledge and memes.

However, on this occasion, we thought we’d make it easier for you and let you know the answer to the question “why are cocktails called cocktails?” (because we’re nice like that, and we also worship at the altar of sleep!)

Why Are Cocktails Called Cocktails?

Quite simply, most people agree with the story that an absolute legend of a guy called Antonie Amédée Peychaud, a New Orleans apothecary used to serve an extra dash of brandy with this bitters in the late 18th century. He would serve this dash of brandy in an eggcup (yes, hipsters were around in the 18th century, who knew?!), which of course, in French are called coquetier (pronounced Cocktay). So after a few too many of these cheeky little brandy and bitter combos, the word “Cocktay” became the “Cocktail” that we know and love today. There are a couple of other theories; however, this one is our favorite and seems to be the most acknowledged!

What Makes A Good Cocktail?

Okay, so you’re now full of knowledge about the origins of the word “Cocktail” and your tired mind has wandered over to the thought of “What makes a good cocktail?”. 

You’d think that just having awesome tastes and flavors would be enough to create the best cocktail in the world, but you’d be wrong (sorry to disappoint). Cocktails are actually fairly technical to create, which is why they taste like genuine magic once you find a great one. 

To create great cocktails, you need something called Tension - no, not that weird feeling when you can’t decide whether your work crush is actually interested in you. Tension in cocktail making exists in the balance between all the elements of the cocktail; factors such as sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness, the alcoholic strength, temperature and texture.

Finding the balance between these elements and then adding in popular or seasonal alcohol flavors, fruits and syrups are what makes Mixologists so genuinely skilled at their job.

Don’t fear though, if you’re wanting to experiment with different flavors and tastes of cocktails without being a Mixologist extraordinaire, we’ve got you covered with our Full Bar selection.

 Show us how you’ve used our cocktails or created your own on our Instagram.