Cocktail history, documented
Every drink on this site carries two kinds of history, kept apart: what contemporary records show, and what people say. This page explains the difference, lists the old books the record rests on, and puts all 81 drinks on one timeline.
Documented versus legend
Bartenders love an origin story, and drinks companies love them more. Many famous ones (the Margarita invented for a showgirl, the Bénédictine monk of 1510, the Old Fashioned born at a Louisville club) appear only decades after the drink itself, often in advertising or in the memories of people with a stake in the answer. On this site:
- Documented means there is a contemporary written record: a printed recipe in a dated book, a newspaper item, a bar's own menu, a creator's account made close to the time.
- Legend and lore means a story without that support. We tell it, because it is part of the drink's culture, and say why it is doubtful.
- Disputed or unclear notes mark facts where the sources disagree. We would rather leave a gap than fill it with a guess.
The historical research of the last twenty-five years, by writers such as David Wondrich and the many collectors who digitised old newspapers and bar books, has pushed most first-appearance dates earlier and debunked many stories. Dates here are the earliest we could confirm; older records may yet turn up.
The eras in brief
- Before 1800: punch
- Sailors and traders of the East India Company brought punch to Britain in the 17th century: spirit, citrus, sugar, water and spice in a shared bowl. It is the ancestor of the sour.
- 1806–1860: the cocktail is named
- A Hudson, New York, newspaper defines the "cock-tail" in 1806 as spirit, sugar, water and bitters. Slings, juleps, cobblers and smashes fill American bars, cooled by the new commercial ice trade.
- 1862–1919: the first golden age
- Jerry Thomas publishes the first bartender's guide in 1862. Vermouth arrives in American bars in the 1870s and 1880s, giving the Manhattan and the Martini. Hotel bars in New York, New Orleans and London make bartending a profession.
- 1920–1933: Prohibition and exile
- National Prohibition in the United States sends American bartenders to London, Paris and Havana. Many classics are recorded in European books of the 1920s, including the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book.
- 1934–1960s: tiki and the highball
- Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic build a fantasy Polynesia on Caribbean rum and layered citrus. Vodka arrives in force in America through marketing drinks like the Moscow Mule.
- 1970s–1980s: the low ebb
- Pre-made sour mixes and sweet, simple drinks dominate. A few classics survive in old hotel bars.
- 1987 onwards: the revival
- Bartenders in New York and London return to fresh juice, proper technique and the old books. The revival produces its own modern classics, many with fully documented creators: the Cosmopolitan, Espresso Martini, Penicillin, Paper Plane and Naked and Famous.
The books the record rests on
| Year | Book | Why it matters | Copyright status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1862 | Jerry Thomas, How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-Vivant's Companion (New York) | The first published bartender's guide: punches, sours, slings, cobblers, fizzes and the first printed "cocktails". | Public domain |
| 1882 | Harry Johnson, New and Improved Bartender's Manual (New York; revised 1888) | Professional practice and early vermouth cocktails. | Public domain |
| 1884 | O. H. Byron, The Modern Bartenders' Guide (New York) | Among the earliest printed Manhattan recipes. | Public domain |
| 1888 | Theodore Proulx, The Bar-Tender's Manual (Chicago) | Usually cited for the first Old Fashioned recipe under that name. | Public domain |
| 1914 | Jacques Straub, Drinks (Chicago) | Pre-Prohibition hotel bar recipes. | Public domain in the US |
| 1916 | Hugo Ensslin, Recipes for Mixed Drinks (New York) | The last major American book before Prohibition; the Aviation's first appearance. | Public domain in the US |
| 1922 | Robert Vermeire, Cocktails: How to Mix Them (London) | European bar practice in the 1920s. | Public domain in the US |
| 1922 | Harry MacElhone, ABC of Mixing Cocktails (London) | The Paris and London bars of the American exile. | Public domain in the US |
| 1930 | Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book (London) | The great summary of the classic era, from the American Bar at the Savoy. | Public domain in the US since 1 January 2026; still in copyright in the UK and EU |
Recipes, dates and facts are not protected by copyright, and we quote none of these books' text; we cite them as evidence. Status as we understand it in October 2026.
Timeline
Each drink at its earliest documented date, or the date of creation for modern classics. Years flagged on a drink's page as approximate are marked ≈.
