Mixology: A Short History of the Cocktail

[@DaveHines1]

“Hangovers from drinking too many cocktails , History that deserves to be forgotten “ 😉

[@navret1707]

I have lost quite a lot of history over my navy career.

[@lp-xl9ld]

It doesn't DESERVE to be forgotten; it just...was.

[@mauricedavis2160]

Good luck with the too many cocktails on this planet, cheers!!!🍹👻❣️

[@DaveHines1]

@@mauricedavis2160 surely drinking too many and too many are totally different things 😉😉😊😊🍹🍹

[@mauricedavis2160]

@@DaveHines1 👌👻

[@josephreisinger33]

My Dad was a mixologist for close to 40 years. And I wish he was still here so I could ask his opinion on the topic of today's video. He was a good man and only came home snockerd once. My grandmother told him to sleep in his car and would not let him in the house. That is my history that I always will remember 😊

[@SweetChicagoGator]

I had a neighbor truck driver inebriated, Benny told me sleeping in his truck as he respects his wife and did not want to go upstairs in his condition. ❤

[@AshesAshes44]

You reminded me of the only time I heard about my father over-indulging. At the party 🥳 a few friends (Dad was 6' 4") poured him into the back seat, and Mom drove him home. A bit miffed, my mom left him there to sleep it off. That was the closest to an argument I'd ever heard about. It helps if your husband thinks you've hung the moon and the stars.

[@goodun2974]

One wonders about the origin of the word "snookered" as a euphemism for drunk, inebriated, trashed, hammered, plastered....

[@glazdarklee1683]

@@goodun2974 I have always herd "snookered' as meaning fooled. Now, "snockered" may be more what is meant here.

[@goodun2974]

@@glazdarklee1683 , I looked it up and you are correct. I stand corrected!

[@richardklug822]

While attending my son's wedding in Bermuda, I was introduced to the "Dark and Stormy", made with Gosling's dark rum, ginger beer and lime juice over crushed ice. When constructed properly (light ingredients on the bottom, rum floated on top) it resembles the frequent downpours that roll in from the ocean. Delicious and entertaining!

[@Yogasefski]

Damn, I’ve been making them all wrong! Thanks for the clarification.

[@danielseelye6005]

Might need to get this to Greg @ How To Drink. Think he would like this, especially his love of rums with funk.

[@goodun2974]

We have a local soda company that makes a Dangerous Ginger Beer that is extremely peppery and wonderful for making Dark and Stormy's with.

[@r.hill.2369]

A delicious drink.

[@screwthecabal6453]

I love it when people seriously research things. It tells you that they know what they're talking about. Thank you.

[@seanwiley558]

My wife put here through beverage management and mixology, we have been together for going on 15 years and I'm still amazed on what she can do especially on special occasions and I let her loose in a package store!

[@torgeirbrandsnes1916]

Great vlog as always! Cheers! «One Martini. Two at the most. Three I am under the table. Four I am under my host!» Mae West

[@wayneyadams]

7:07 A funny story about bitters comes to mind. We were living in Barcelon which was home port for my father's US Navy ship. One day our mother took us out for a stroll around the city near where we lived. We stopped at a small market and bought three small bottles of a delicious looking red colored soda which my mother assumed was cherry soda. The market owner asked my mother several times if she was sure that is what she wanted to buy, to which she confidently said yes (or si in Spanish). He opened the bottles with his bottle opener, and we walked out where we each took a huge gulp of what turned out to be bitters. That day probably confirmed the idea of Crazy Americans in the mind of the market owner.

[@jabbertwardy]

What a fun episode! It's amazing to consider that something so modern has such uncertain origins, despite all the documentation. Perhaps it's because it's the continuation of something humans have been during for all recorded history: adding ingredients to alcohol to make it more palatable.

[@goodun2974]

More likely that, simply put, drink-mixers lie and liars mix drinks!

[@jimmyjames6318]

So true

[@BatCaveOz]

I am just happy knowing that in a more innocent time it was OK to name your child "Harry Johnson".

[@dmcgee3]

Somewhere in Missouri I came across the grave of a WW1 veteran. Pvt Dick Rash

[@notahotshot]

​@@dmcgee3 I had a school teacher by the name of Harry Peter Long.

[@boblobla1611]

In High Schooll there was a local shoe store owner, a Mr Richard Head, who had his name printed on his business cards "Dick Head". Needless to say these cards were quite popular amongst us teens.

[@randallmarsh1187]

There was also a race car driver name Dick Trickle................

[@drewjansen7825]

The in-house magazine for Cox Communication employees is (or at least *was*) the Cox Insider. Seriously.

[@insitelifetec750]

The History Guy... one classy bastard! I tended bar for a dozen years and still learned a heck of a lot on this one. Thanks!

[@popesalty2934]

This video should have come with a disclaimer... "WARNING: This video will make you want to make yourself a gin and tonic at 9 in the morning." Still, I respect the fact that the History Guy doesn't look hung over in this video. His ability to temper his "research" belies a professionalism that I'm not sure I possess.

[@carolynhotchkiss4760]

As my grandmother (who *did* drink G&Ts at unseasonably early hours of the morning) used to say..."It's five o'clock *somewhere* lol.

[@DB-thats-me]

Can HG do Harvey Wallbanger?

[@77thTrombone]

I'm 60. Never had an old fashioned. Never wanted one more after hearing this story.

[@garywagner2466]

Very interesting. Bartending got me through university. Still learned a few things from your video. Remember during the pandemic there was a shortage of tonic water as so many bright people believed quinine would protect them from COVID-19. Same with lime juice. We haven’t really learned much, have we? BTW, if you say “N’Awlins” instead of “New Ore-Lee-ans” you’ll have a better time on Bourbon Street. The great thing about cocktails is that you can make them to suit your own tastes, and not worry too much about the “experts.” After two or three, the ingredients cease to matter. Enjoy.

[@chadparsons50]

The gin craze you mentioned had a further effect, it led to an epidemic of drunk mothers accidentally smothering their infants while asleep. What followed was a popularization of the idea that it was dangerous for a mother to sleep with their infant. This became accepted wisdom such that using a bassinet or crib to sleep infants became the principle method instead of a supporting one. This idea spread throughout the Anglo-Sphere and beyond.

[@williamevans9426]

In Britain, a colloquial name for gin is 'mothers' ruin'.

[@natemiller448]

This is something I have never heard before....nice job, you two.

[@JackFalltrades]

One of my favorite drinks is the Singapore Sling, which was introduced to me at the place it originated. The Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. 😊

[@davidcomtedeherstal]

Yes, please do a second episode of Cocktail history.

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

I agree, this one was great (Like all your other histories you cover)

[@goodun2974]

To date, THG's most watched video was about screws and screwdrivers; he should have given himself a promo tie-in from that episode to this one by mentioning the orange juice and vodka drink known as a Screwdriver! One wonders how the name of that drink came about; perhaps it is a "tail" with many twists and turns?! 🤔😁

[@emilyadams3228]

@@goodun2974 Pro Tip: If you want a girl to stay the night, make her a Phillips Screwdriver. That way, she won't skip out. tee hee

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

I heard about a chemistry study that showed that the chemicals that make both gin and tonic bitter will form a weak bond at the ends of the compounds that taste bitter, which prevents the bitterness from being tasted, if mixed in the proper proportions and stirred enough to allow the bitter ends to find each other. It was a serendipitous discovery.

[@erichoss5684]

Very light and fun. Ill have another.

[@nolimendoza4588]

Another AWESOME presentation! Thank you.

[@ledenhimeganidleshitz144]

By 15 minutes in, you were sluring your words! I'll go to the liquor store and pick up a pint. I'll play it again and join you!

[@ninabooker2904]

Tom Collins, yum, fond memories have I. ❤🤪

[@LowtechLLC]

This one is great!! 2nd round please

[@johnseawind9558]

This makes me think of the drinks served in the "touristy" bars around the world, that none of the locals will touch. Like for example, right here in Louisville, Kentucky, we have the famous Mint Julep. I'm born and raised in Louisville, and am about to turn 53, and I've never so much as tasted one. But plenty of tourists have, especially on the first Saturday in May.

[@MrWhatsHisFace87]

107, Brandy Old Fashioned. With love from Wisconsin

[@natemiller448]

Lovely writing in this installment.....Top shelf, even.

[@echewta]

A very difficult and robust topic introduced very well sir. Cheers!

[@astrorad2000]

Thank you for sharing! Sitting on the deck at 9:40 PM sipping bourbon on the rocks in S.E. Wisconsin.

[@jeffreybrewster4345]

Another excellent presentation

[@iamsuzerain3987]

Nothing wrong with a good cocktail. Thoroughly enjoyed this one, perhaps I'll have another. Ahh...history that I'll struggle to remember

[@JagerLange]

Weirdly and before I got home to be able to watch this, someone at a pub I was in (the loud know-it-all, tell-you-they-know-it type) was entering into a conversation at the bar across the way from me about how a cocktail really was French for "egg cup" or something... had only I seen this earlier (and I could be bothered to get involved) then Monday evening's history may have changed.

[@lhcboy]

I find myself watching one of your vids for the first time in a long time. Thank you for doing what you do. Your vids remind me of my freshman year of college and all of the interesting stuff those professors were spewing out. So much knowledge and experience being thrown at me. Absolutely amazing. Not that I think they were all correct in their assumptions and conclusions but just the onslaught of ideas by folks who had (we all assume) learned how to learn and earned their PHD's.

[@nilo70]

Lance , you never fail to enlighten me and entertain me ! Thank you

[@TheHylianBatman]

Mixology is fascinating, especially the history of it.

[@deadgolfer6345]

I think one of the most fascinating parts is how it kinda died for a while - most of my life. I went to bars for so many years and getting a drink really meant a beer or a mixed drink - something like a bourbon and coke or a vodka and orange juice. And yeah, we knew about a martini and probably could have gotten one - but weren't going to. Margaritas were certainly around. But an old fashioned, sidecar, negroni, Manhattan, etc - these just weren't in the public consciousness.

[@georgeclark7208]

It's got to be hard to determine the origin of something invented in a bar... in the morning everyone forgets what happened last night.

[@natemiller448]

Spend any time around a bar, you'll hear the same stories over and over...and they all think it's the first time. Lol. Not hard to believe that there are several "official" stories on a topic.

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally!

[@christopherdeguilio6375]

Great one! Brave to take on this history. Though... I've never been surprised by the fact that the early modern history of cocktail culture has always been a bit... hazy... coming as it did, from a society that drank a whole lot more than we do today.

[@goodun2974]

"See the boys out walkin'/ the boys they look so fine/ dressed all in green velvet/ their silver buckles shine/ soon they'll be bleary-eyed, under a keg of wine/ Down Where the Drunkards Roll...." a song by Richard Thompson.

[@smittykins]

Bottoms up! 🥂🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🍾

[@reith_kichards1733]

i would watch a video about the history of grass growing if it were narrated by you sir

[@nonamesplease6288]

There was an Alka Seltzer commercial right before this video started. It almost seemed planned, LOL!!

[@davidcashin1894]

When I think of Cocktails I think of P.G. Wodehouse, Mr Mulliner and Bertie Wooster. The Mulliner stories almost always started with Mr Mulliner walking into the Pub and it's denizens attempting to escape. But Mr Mulliner would corner one and the story would begin. The characters in the pub were referred to by the beverage they were drinking. The cocktail that seems to come up the most, espcially in the Jeeves and Wooster stories among the members of the Drones Club is the "Horses Neck" . And yet no one seems to drink them now a days. Ginger Ale with either Brandy or Rye or Whiskey etc.

[@patrickdurham8393]

This might explain why i often act a horse's ass after a few too many cocktails.

[@gregcampwriter]

Since -ology should go with a word from ancient Greek or Latin, the word would be better as kraterology, a krater being a bowl for mixing wine in Greece of the period. One good joke about martinis is about two bomber pilots in World War II who are comparing their survival kits. One has a martini kit, and when the other asks about it, the first explains that he'll start making a martini, at which time someone will show up to say that's not how to do it, and he'll follow that person back to civilization.

[@Brian-cr6rb]

Well said my man!

[@mattgeorge90]

excellent episode ❤❤❤❤❤

[@whtfsh765]

I gave up alcohol 4 months ago, so now I get to watch others during their Happy Hour attitude transformations. It's actually very entertaining. Bottoms up!

[@bryantsteury8910]

"Want to know how the old fashioned got started? Starts with a sprig of ginger and a horse's ass.....where are you going?"

[@user-mv9tt4st9k]

What a fun video. One of my favorite of my father's possessions is an "Old Mr. Boston De Luxe Official Bartender Guide." Originally published in 1935, his edition is from 1941. Both Collins are listed and the old fashioned calls for either bourbon or rye. 😉

[@georgemckenna462]

Requesting a History of the Tiki Bar!

[@goodun2974]

I know of two great songs about Tiki Bars, here are some snippets: "Thank God the tiki bar is open/ Thank God the Tiki Bar still shines/ Thank God the Tiki Bar is open/ come on in and open up your mind..... I know that drinking ain't no solution/ I ain't had one in 17 years/ but if the Tiki Bar was closed tonight, well I just might disappear....." from The Tiki Bar Is Open, by John Hiatt. Also this, from David Lindley: " Tiki Torches at Twilight/ hula girls at the bar/ all the guys from the office, are showing up in their cars/ get to cooking up roast pig/ Like it's done in the book/ say hello to your sweetie, with a casual look.....swinging deals and eating meals is all within the norm/ put away the axes and pay those taxes/ let's all get normal at the Luau......" ( Written by Bob Frizz Fuller, recorded by David Lindley).

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Hey History Guy,👋 🤓 this weekend I was at a club here in Las Vegas. I walked up to this honey 🍯 and I asked her "Do you like cocktails?" She said yes, tell me a Few!Waka Waka I'm on fire 🔥 this bright and early morning 🌄

[@_Ben___]

I'll give you a short history of my cocktail.

[@jamieohiogal9559]

Great fun! Enjoyable.

[@jakegarvin7634]

Another great episode from the history drunk!

[@jbtechcon7434]

The "cock" in cocktail is a reference to roosters waking people up in the morning, because I drink one right after I wake up.

[@0ThrowawayAccount0]

That is literally called, "alcoholism".

[@iamsuzerain3987]

I too enjoy a belt of good bourbon with my morning coffee...cheers!

[@goodun2974]

So, does a cocktail for breakfast qualify as "the feathers of the bird that bit you last night"? 🤔😳

[@grimreaper6557]

My mother's favorite was a Singapore sling cocktail or a sigrams7 and squirt

[@patricklilly2520]

Hand down, the Best channel on You Tube. It sure was nice to toast with THG!!!

[@FuncleChuck]

15:20 that's my understanding. Marketing absolutely murders any real origin stories in the name of profits, in every industry.

[@isaaco5679]

My old-fashioned contains both rye and brandy among other things.

[@valeriehowden471]

Enjoying at 730am! Cheers to THG.🍸🍹

[@davidcampbell4465]

...oh show me the way to go home...I'm tired n I wanna go to bed... I had a little drink bout an hour ago, n it went straight to my head. Wherever I may roam, over sea, land or foam; you'll always find me singing this song...

[@goodun2974]

" I want one thing, let me make it quite clear/ I want 1 bourbon, 1 scotch, 1 beer...." John Lee Hooker

[@BasicDrumming]

I appreciate you, thank you for making content.

[@bretmelton3823]

I do enjoy a gin and tonic. However, on a recent trip to Mexico my wife and I discovered the Pabloma: tequila mixed with grapefruit juice and a twist of lime.

[@beebop9808]

Well done Guy. 👍

[@RichRhodes]

We seem to be highly confused about a concoction in which so many of us richly partake! Maybe it just goes to show... we don't need understanding to enjoy😊 So delight in you and the history you share. Kind of a hole in life since Paul Harvey, your works fits the bill perfectly for this one. ❤

[@JeffreyGlover65]

I thought the same thing when I first came across THG. Paul Harvey had no equal...until now.

[@goodun2974]

@@JeffreyGlover65 , you cheapen the research THG does to put together his videos. Paul Harvey sometimes utilized urban legends that couldn't be verified, and didnt let the facts get in the way of a good story. His stories were certainly colorful but should always be taken with more than a few grains of salt. Do some research into this and you'll find some flies in Harvey's ointment.

[@RichRhodes]

@@goodun2974 Wasn't about the "work ethic" it was a comment on my experience of his dedication and delivery, a reporting of warmth. I said nothing to "cheapen" his effort. I quite leave that to others. I would apologize for offending you but don't think I have reason. My comment still stands, without a pricetag.

[@goodun2974]

@@RichRhodes , I don't think one should compare a radio host who literally made shit up for the purposes of an entertaining story (and selling advertisements) to someone who does historical research and makes an honest effort to present the story as it occurred, to the best of his knowledge from actual research,, and also takes pains to point out any conflicting narratives within the story that can neither be confirmed nor disproved.

[@samdrummond7179]

Another entertaining and informative video. Thank you, love learning great and interesting stuff.

[@flkoolguy]

Fascinating. Ive never pondered on the history of cocktails. I enjoy one now and then. 7 and 7 is my preferred drink, just like my dad. CHEERS to you THG for another great video.

[@schlirf]

hmmm...I'll drink to this!

[@thatssomething1]

Cheers to a "history of" that's long overdue! ...glugglug 😉

[@wayneyadams]

Thanks!

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Thank you!

[@KartKing4ever]

Perfect episode for my birthday lol

[@rickieoakes5267]

Happy birthday 🎉

[@RugNug]

This was a good one.

[@edschools5580]

Please let's do another round. This time with a focus on rum cocktails and the role rum played in American history. Good and bad.

[@jeffsilverman6104]

Bitters and lime juice also works well for hiccups. I was a Blackjack dealer in Las Vegas for many years and picked up things from bartenders I knew along the way. I saw it work for myself.

[@joshdobson2737]

It's 5'oclock somewhere.... cheers!

[@lilykatmoon4508]

Oh wow. Tom Collins is one of my favorite drinks, lol.

[@hotrodandrube9119]

Thanks for this one! Cheers!

[@somerabbit6909]

Since you're a fan of pirates, I maintain pirates invented the cocktail. Refusing to drink grog, pirates instead added whatever fruit juice they had to rum, sometimes with sugar. They called this drink "mumbo."

[@HootOwl513]

True. But it was "Bumbo."

[@mephitismephitis6825]

It would be interesting to hear something about the history of etymological reform.

[@fastpat1]

Try a Spicy Red Snapper, which is a Bloody Mary made with gin instead of vodka. I like them.

[@goodun2974]

I am not much of a Gin drinker but I do like Bloody Mary's, preferably spicy and with plenty of horseradish. A gin version sounds interesting. I also like Bloody Mary's made with Clamato juice.

[@goodun2974]

How is it possible that THG did a video about cocktails and yet left out the Bloody Mary, which is presumed to have a tie in to Mary Queen of Scots or someone else being murdered?

[@JamesThomas-gg6il]

So a historian, a writer, and drunk ,goes into a bar ...sounds like a good start to joke

[@SweetChicagoGator]

Loved bartending better than being a waiter in my younger days because I could chat much. I learned a lot from people. 🤩

[@justsaying5755]

My grandmother owned a bar in the center of Detroit. She loved that bar.

[@kyleleonard6005]

this is a good video. love alot of ur videos. but i drink after work. and this was easiest one to drink to. Cheers my friend!

[@janlindtner305]

There is a story about two older English sisters, one of whom drank a lot, fell ill and went to the doctor. He found that she had quinine poisoning. Asked how that could be possible, she replied that it must be that she drank 2 liters of tonic every day. Why? I have to dilute my Gin a bit.

[@goodun2974]

It would be interesting to know what the quinine percentage was in the tonic water of the 1800s. My understanding is that the amount of quinine in modern tonic water is nowhere near therapeutic for preventing or alleviating malaria. I actually enjoy drinking Quinine water over ice without any gin added to it, the tonic water is typically sweetened a little and has citrus flavor added.

[@janlindtner305]

@@goodun2974 Cant tell you its a story i have from DR Denmark Radio in the 1980s

[@reneefink3741]

Rooster feathers use to mark different drinks on tray 0:39. Cocktails

[@carlmontney7916]

I've always enjoyed an old fashioned. But sadly as the years have gone by is getting harder and harder to find a bartender who even knows what one is let alone how to make it. On more than one occasion I have had to go to the bar and instruct the bartender on how to make one. It would always go something like this waitress would say what would you like and I was saying old-fashioned she would come back a bit later and say I'm sorry but we don't have that drink I would say just a minute could you please take me to the bar. Once there I would find a young bartender who was unaware of some of the classic drinks. Then I would walk them through how to make one and they would go that looks really good I would say yes it is you should try one sometime.

[@iamnolegend2519]

Cheers ! 🍸

[@andybonneau9209]

Cheers!

[@bloodwrage]

Cocktails at 8 AM on a Monday? You okay, man?

[@AndrewCastlemaine]

Excellent. I'm a brandy alexander fan myself although in homage to my Queenslander upbringing (look it up), I am partial to a "bundy & coke". Cheers

[@BenjySparky]

THG you rock! Peace

[@Deja_Yu]

The fact that an exceptional amount of human commodities go back to horses somehow is very amusing.

[@167curly]

In the late 1600s the British gin-drinkers had a saying "Drunk for a penny, dead-drunk for twopence!"

[@harvestaw71]

Awesome

[@michaeldufresne9428]

Of all the hats I have seen on your videos I think my favorite do far is the white one the featured so prominently in the background of today's video.

[@elcastorgrande]

The idea was that most distilled liquor was so awful-tasting (not to say poisonous) that barkeepers had to do something to kill the taste. Hence ground pepper in vodka to take out the fusel oil, and vermouth in whiskey distilled with lead pipes.

[@goodun2974]

T Hg missed an opportunity for a tie in to his most watched video of all time, about screws and screwdrivers, by forgetting to mention the vodka and orange juice drink known as a Screwdriver. Perhaps it is a "tail" full of twists and turns, deserving of its own video?🤔😁

[@radeeo1658]

This was amazing

[@yourpalharvey]

“Maybe I’ll come back another time for it” ya, it tastes a lot better that way

[@marydesmond9595]

I prefer my gin 'neat', not mixed and no ice. Even a bad bartender can't screw that one up!

[@jakegarvin7634]

Hey, I'll have a Malaria and Quinine, shit I meant a gin and tonic!

[@isaaco5679]

By if now-and-again you mean most evenings then yes of course!

[@jimmyjames6318]

I for one can't wait for the other round 😂

[@theoccidilian4896]

History I’m trying to remember.