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"Bartlett in his Dictionary of Americanisms gives the
following: 'Cocktail. A stimulating beverage, made of
brandy, gin, or other liquor, mixed with bitters, sugar
and a very little water. A friend thinks this term was
suggested by the shape which the froth, as a glass of
porter, assumes when it flows over the sides of a tumbler
containing the liquid effervescing.' He quotes the fol
lowing from the New Yor\ Tribune of May 8, 1862: 'A
bowie-knife and a foaming cocktail.' In Yorkshire dia
lect, cocktail describes beer that is fresh and foaming.
"Brewer in A Dictionary of Phrase-and Fable, follow
ing the definition of cocktail, adds the note: 'The origin
of the term is unknown: the story given in the New
York World (1891) to the effect that it is an Aztec
word, and that "the liquor was discovered by a Toltec
noble, who sent it by the hand of his daughter Xochitl,"
to the king who promptly named it "xoctl," whence
"cocktail" is a good specimen of the manufacture of
popular etymologies.'
"As you will see from the foregoing, altho many
theories have been advanced as to the ctymoloey of the
term cocktail, these, like most etvmologies of the kind,
are mere flights of fancy, and while they make interest
ing reading, cannot be accepted as reliable."
After careful analysis of Doctor Vizetelly's data it ap
pears to be certain that the odd mispronunciation of
coquetier in New Orleans is the oldest and most positive
basis for the word "cocktail."
Monsieur Peychaud, glass in hand we salute you? A
votre santSl
An interesting tale bearing upon the use of the word
cocktail in Old New Orleans is to be found in a book
written by a German traveler over a century ago. The
author was Henry Didimus, and his book. New Orleans
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