A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across regions of the world, and many websites publish both original recipes and their own interpretations of older and more famous cocktails.
A bar, also known as a saloon, a tavern or tippling house, or sometimes as a pub or club, is a retail business establishment that serves alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, liquor, cocktails, and other beverages such as mineral water and soft drinks. Bars often also sell snack foods, such as crisps or peanuts, for consumption on their premises. Some types of bars, such as pubs, may also serve food from a restaurant menu. The term "bar" refers to the countertop where drinks are prepared and served, and by extension to the overall premises.
Waiting staff, waitstaff, waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers, are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food and drink as requested. Waiting staff follow rules and guidelines determined by the manager. Waiting staff carry out many different tasks, such as taking orders, food-running, polishing dishes and silverware, helping bus tables and restocking working stations with needed supplies.
The martini is a cocktail made with gin and vermouth, and garnished with an olive or a lemon twist. Over the years, the martini has become one of the best-known mixed alcoholic beverages. A popular variation, the vodka martini, uses vodka instead of gin for the cocktail's base spirit.
A bartender is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but also occasionally at private parties. Bartenders also usually maintain the supplies and inventory for the bar. As well as serving beer and wine, a bartender can generally also mix classic cocktails such as a Cosmopolitan, Manhattan, Old Fashioned, and Mojito.
A stinger is a duo cocktail made by adding crème de menthe to brandy. The cocktail's origins can be traced to the United States in the 1890s, and the beverage remained widely popular in America until the 1970s. It was seen as a drink of the upper class, and has had a somewhat wide cultural impact.
Flair bartending is the practice of bartenders entertaining guests, clientele or audiences with the manipulation of bar tools and liquor bottles in tricky, dazzling ways. Used occasionally in cocktail bars, the action requires skills commonly associated with jugglers. It has become a sought-after talent among venue owners and marketers to help advertise a liquor product or the opening of a bar establishment. Competitions have been sponsored by liquor brands to attract flair bartenders, and some hospitality training companies hold courses to teach flair techniques.
A flaming drink is a cocktail or other mixed drink that contains flammable, high-proof alcohol, which is ignited before consumption. The alcohol may be an integral part of the drink, or it may be floated as a thin layer across the top of the drink. The flames are mostly for dramatic flair. However, in combination with certain ingredients, the flavor of the drink is altered. Some flavors are enhanced, and the process may impart a toasted flavor to some drinks.
A "fizz" is a mixed drink variation on the older sours family of cocktail. Its defining features are an acidic juice and carbonated water. It typically includes gin or rum as its alcoholic ingredient.
Jeremiah "Jerry" P. Thomas was an American bartender who owned and operated saloons in New York City. Because of his pioneering work in popularizing cocktails across the United States as well, he is considered "the father of American mixology". In addition to writing the seminal work on cocktails, Bar-Tender's Guide, Thomas displayed creativity and showmanship while preparing drinks and established the image of the bartender as a creative professional. As such, he was often nicknamed "Professor" Jerry Thomas.
A sea breeze is a cocktail containing vodka with cranberry juice and grapefruit juice. The cocktail is usually consumed during summer months. The drink may be shaken in order to create a foamy surface. It is considered an IBA Official Cocktail.
A Clover Club cocktail is a shaken cocktail consisting of gin, lemon juice, raspberry syrup, and egg white. The egg white acts as an emulsifier, forming the drink's characteristic foamy head.
A well drink or rail drink is an alcoholic beverage served using the lower-cost liquors stored within easy reach of the bartender in the counter "speed rail", "speed rack", or "well".
This is an index of drinking establishment-related articles.
Ada Coleman (1875–1966) was head bartender at the Savoy Hotel in London for 23 years, one of only two women to have held that position. While working at the Savoy, she invented the "hanky panky", a distinctive variation on the sweet martini cocktail.
Harry Johnson was an American bartender who owned and operated saloons across the US in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. He is best known for the New and Improved Bartenders' Manual, an influential book that contained many original cocktail recipes, as well as the first written recipes of such cocktails as the marguerite and a version of the martini. Perhaps even more importantly, it was the first book to offer bar management instructions. Johnson opened the first ever consulting agency for bar management. Imbibe magazine has called him one of the most influential cocktail personalities of the last 100 years, and he has been called "the father of professional bartending".
Ivy Mix is an American bartender. She is head bartender and co-owner of the James Beard Award-nominated bar Leyenda in Brooklyn, New York. She co-founded Speed Rack alongside Lynnette Marrero. Mix was named Best American Bartender of the Year at Tales of the Cocktail in 2015.
Julie Reiner is an American mixologist, club owner, and author. Reiner is one of New York's most influential bar owners, having established the Flatiron Lounge, Lani Kai, and the Clover Club. Major publications have featured Reiner's drink recipes, including The Wall Street Journal, Playboy, Esquire, GQ, and Time Out London. Reiner has trained many female bartenders.
The Columbia Bartending AgencyandSchool of Mixology is a student-run business at Columbia University that trains, certifies, and represents bartenders in New York City. All instructors at the School of Mixology are Columbia students and themselves alumni of the program, and all classes are open to the public. Students who complete the mixology program and perform well enough on the final examination, which consists of both a performance test and written portion, have the option of joining the Columbia Bartending Agency, which hires out its bartenders' services around New York. The business is financially self-sufficient and independent from the university.
The craft cocktail movement is a social movement spurred by the cocktail renaissance, a period of time in the 21st century characterized by a revival and re-prioritization of traditional recipes and methods in the bar industry, especially in the United States. The renaissance spanned from 2004 into the late 2010s. By 2017, high-quality ingredients, techniques, and liquors began to be ubiquitous in bars across the United States, leading writers to declare the renaissance over.
