In order to get better acquainted with the cocktail list offered by bars and not to get into trouble by ordering a combination you don’t like, get acquainted with the composition of the most famous cocktails. By the way, many of them can be made at home if you have all the necessary ingredients.
Mojito
This Cuban drink was born in Havana, in a small family restaurant that still exists today. The name mojito, according to legend, comes from “mojadito,” which means “slightly moist.
The composition of the mojito is rum, sugar syrup, soda (Sprite), mint and lime.
Cosmopolitan
According to one version, the cocktail was created as part of an advertising campaign for Absolut Citron lemon-flavored vodka. According to the second version, the author of the cocktail is Cheryl Cook, a bartender from Florida, and Toby Cizzini from Manhattan perfected and “replicated” it in the now familiar recipe. For a while, Cosmopolitan was popular among visitors to gay clubs, but after the TV series “Sex and the City” the cocktail became fashionable everywhere.
The composition of the cocktail is orange liqueur, cranberry juice, lemon juice, vodka, and orange peel essential oil.
Pina Colada
Pina colada – “filtered pineapple” – was originally the name given to freshly squeezed pineapple juice. Then it was mixed with rum and later in the twentieth century a cocktail based on these ingredients was born in Puerto Rico.
The composition of the Pina Colada is white rum, coconut syrup, and pineapple juice.
Margarita
This Latin American cocktail was born in 1936-1948 and in one way or another is associated with the name of a girl – Margarita. The first version dedicates the cocktail to the American actress Marjorie King, who could not drink any alcoholic beverages. The proportions of the modern cocktail were chosen for her. The second legend insists that a certain bartender from Juarez mixed up the order of the cocktail and made it on his own. He named the drink, which immediately became a hit, after the flowers of the daisies. These are not all the versions of the cocktail’s origin, but since none of the authors patented the recipe, there is still controversy surrounding it.
The composition of the Margarita is tequila, orange liqueur, and lemon juice.
Screwdriver
According to the version of origin, the screwdriver got its name from American petroleum engineers working in Iraq, who mixed vodka and juice with the screwdriver tool.
The composition of the cocktail is vodka and orange juice.
Bloody Mary
Again, there is no consensus on who the author of this iconic cocktail is. One source says that it was invented by George Jessel in 1939 as a hangover cure. And others link the cocktail with the name of the English Queen Mary I Tudor, who was called the Bloody Mary behind her back for her cruel treatment of Protestants.
The cocktail contains vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, fresh celery, Worcester sauce, Tabasco, salt, and ground pepper.
Tequila Sunrise
This cocktail was invented in the 1930s and 1940s at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and had a very different recipe. It got its name for its appearance – the components of the cocktail settled to the bottom, mixing with the juice, a game of color, similar to a sunrise was obtained.
The composition of Tequila Sunrise is tequila, orange juice and pomegranate syrup.
Daiquiri
The story of the cocktail’s creation takes us back to Cuba, where a certain engineer named Jennings Coxe went to the Daiquiri area on an expedition. To quench his workers’ thirst, he used rum he had and lime juice and sugar he borrowed from the locals, diluting the simple cocktails with ice.
The composition of the cocktail is white rum, lemon juice and sugar syrup.