Cocktails: Myths and Legends

"Shaken, not stirred," jokes the customer who just ordered a martini in an upscale hotel bar. "I'll let the bartender know," answers the young waitress, oblivious to the reference to Bond. James Bond.

 

Baby boomers and classical movie buffs know Bond's reputation for wooing the ladies, martini glass in hand. In fact, modern martini bars borrow some of their classiness from Ian Fleming's famous globetrotting spy hero.

 

Jimmy Buffet took us to Margaritaville in his popular song, establishing the margarita as the choice of libation for a laid-back beach generation.

 

Not every popular cocktail has a cultural history as rich as the martini's or the margarita's, but many have an interesting history nonetheless. You may not know the history of the small paper parasol that decorates your tropical drink or how the Tom Collins got its name.

 

But if you're like most people, you may have knocked back a Manhattan, sipped a scotch and soda or nursed a fuzzy navel, wondering how they got their names and how long they've been around. You might even have given thought to creating a new cocktail with a catchy name.

 

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