Fancy names for fancy drinks

More than just cool names: learn the meaning of these 10 cocktails’ names

Image: Timothé Durand

Nobody thinks twice about the contents of a drink if the name is Gin & Tonic. But what if you never had a Bloody Mary before, and are offered one? According to history, many popular cocktails were created during the Prohibition era when illegal alcohol was not the most palatable drink, and masking its flavor with other ingredients became a necessity. And, since these concoctions needed an appealing name, creative barmen and barwomen came up with many of the denominations we know today. Featured here are 10 of the most popular ones. Have you tried any of these?

Image: Johann Trasch

While the real origin of this cocktail consisting of rye, sweet vermouth, and bitters is probably lost to time, the most popular legend is that the Manhattan was specially invented for a banquet hosted by Lady Randolf (mother of Winston) Churchill at the famous Manhattan Club in New York in the late 1800s.

But, when this supposed party took place, Lady Randolph was pregnant with Winston and living in England. So, even if it is a cool story, it is probably not true.

Image: Alex Block

These days, it refers almost exclusively to a cocktail of bourbon whiskey flavored with sugar and mint but, the word julep was originally borrowed from French to refer to a sweet-tasting or sweetened drink. Before then, it had Persian roots, and its original pronunciation, "gulab" essentially means sweetened rosewater.

The term was translated to "julab" in classical Arabic and then into Latin as "julapium." Eventually, the word would morph into "julep."

Image: Gabriel Gurrola

To explain the origin of the Tom Collins cocktail, we must first introduce his brother, John: A John Collins is a mixture of London dry gin, lemon, sugar, and soda. If you replace the London gin with Old Tom gin, you have prepared a Tom Collins.

The Collins surname of this drink is said to come from a 19th-century headwaiter known as John Collins, who worked at Limmer's Hotel and Coffee House and is thought to be the inventor of the drink. As for the Tom part, its origin is lost to the ages.

Image: Mauro Lima

There are two leading theories as to where the name of the Mojito comes from. The first one holds that the name relates to mojo, a Cuban seasoning made from lime and used to flavor dishes.

Another theory is that the name Mojito is simply a derivative of mojadito, which is a Spanish word for "lightly wet", which would be the diminutive of "mojado" (wet).

Image: Allan Francis

As the legend goes, a certain Count Negroni of Florence, Italy, once requested a drink that would stand apart from all the Americanos ordered at his usual neighborhood cafe.

The bartender answered his request with a cocktail composed of equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari, and he garnished the result with a telltale orange slice. Unfortunately for the count, the drink became as popular as the Americano, losing the desired exclusivity.

Image: Deeliver

This classic cocktail is named after the Cuban village of Daiquirí and, as the story goes, it was invented by local American mining engineers around the time of the Spanish-American War when they ran out of gin and had to use the local rum instead. The cocktail usually consists of sugar, rum, lime juice, and simple syrup.

The daiquiri is identified with revered author Ernest Hemingway, who drank this beverage during his stay in Cuba.

Image: Thomas Hetzler

James Bond's drink of choice is typically made with gin or vodka and vermouth. There are many stories about the origin of the cocktail and its name. The bartender professor Jerry Thomas of San Francisco, has claimed that it was invented by a stranger on his way to Martinez, California. Another story says it's named after Martini & Rossi Vermouth, because that brand was first used in the drink Gin and It, with one half gin and one half Martini & Rossi Vermouth.

Another story claims that it was named after a British army rifle, the Martini and Henry, which is known for its kick, like the drink. And the last one, says that it was created at the Knickerbocker Hotel in the early 1900s, by a bartender named Martini di Arma Tiggia that mixed a martini using only a dry gin and dry vermouth.

Image: Luke Bender

The most widely accepted theory about the origin of the Margarita name says that bartender Carlos "Danny" Herrera supposedly thought up this drink around 1938 in Tijuana, Mexico. He created it for Marjorie King, an aspiring actress who he said was allergic to "everything except tequila."

After crafting something for King to drink, Herrera reportedly dubbed the drink margarita, which is a Spanish twist on Marjorie's name.

Image: Bon Vivant

Apparently, in the late 1800s, it became popular to introduce liqueurs into cocktail recipes. And the older, more basic recipes that omitted them, and in particular this classic mix of whiskey and bitters, became known as "old fashioned" cocktails.

People ordering drinks in this fashion wanted to stick to the basics and eventually the modifier "old-fashioned" became the name for this classic cocktail with a lot of variations. The classic version uses a bit of sugar or simple syrup, a splash or two of aromatic bitters, perhaps an ice cube, and rye whiskey.

Image: SuckerPunch Gourmet

The most popular tale about this drink’s name links it to the English monarch Mary Tudor, whose nickname was, wait for it, "Bloody Mary", because of how many Protestant heretics she condemned to death.

Another theory suggests that the drink was concocted by a bartender at a Paris bar, where a patron who drank it dubbed it the Bucket of Blood, after a Chicago nightclub, with the name later developing into Bloody Mary.

SERENDIPITOUS SCIENCE

10 Amazing Scientific Discoveries Made by Accident

Image: Hal Gatewood

Most of the time, science is a painstakingly slow process where hypotheses are tested again and again through experiments, often without conclusive results. Yet, some of the most groundbreaking discoveries have come about not through careful planning, but by sheer serendipity.

Here are 10 instances where accidental findings changed the course of science and history.

Image: CDC

In 1928, Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory after a long holiday, only to find a strange mold contaminating his Petri dishes of Staphylococcus bacteria. Surprised, he noticed that the mold was somehow preventing the bacteria from growing around it, as if it produced some kind of chemical that killed the bacteria. This chance encounter led to the discovery of penicillin, the world's first antibiotic, revolutionizing medicine and saving millions of lives.

Image: Vlad Zaytsev

During World War II, engineer Percy Spencer noticed a chocolate bar melting in his pocket while working with radar equipment. Known for being a curious individual, he tried the same thing with other foods, discovering that the electromagnetic waves were quickly cooking anything that was put too close to the source. Soon, his colleagues were sampling the first microwave-cooked meals, and this eventually led to the development of the microwave oven.

Image: Jonathan Borba

In 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen was experimenting with cathode rays when he noticed that a platinocyanide screen (a material that happens to glow fluorescent in the presence of gamma and x-rays) almost nine feet away from the source started glowing. His curiosity was sparked, and after a few more experiments, he concluded that this type of radiation could pass through most substances, including soft body tissues. The unexpected phenomenon, later dubbed X-rays by Roentgen himself, eventually revolutionized medical imaging and diagnostics.

Image: Rob Wicks

In 1938, chemist Roy Plunkett accidentally discovered Teflon while working on refrigerants, when a batch of coolant gas polymerized overnight into a mysterious slippery substance. After a few tests, he discovered that the new material was non-reactive to most chemicals, leading to the creation of the most versatile non-stick material.

Image: Goh Rhy Yan

In 1839, Charles Goodyear accidentally dropped a mixture of rubber and sulfur onto a hot stove. The resulting hardened material, known as vulcanized rubber, revolutionized industries from transportation to footwear. Although the world-shaking discovery was accidental, Goodyear had spent many years trying to create a stable form of rubber, a finding that changed his life and the lives of millions forever.

Image: Dan Meyers

While the term was coined by Marie Curie and her husband Pierre, it was Henri Becquerel who actually discovered radioactivity. In 1896, he was researching the properties of the recently discovered X-rays, when he found out that a sample of uranium could emit energy without an external source. His momentous discovery eventually led to our modern understanding of atomic physics and the development of nuclear energy.

Image: Danielle-Claude Bélanger

While taking his dog out for walks in the woods in 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral noticed how burrs would easily stick to the fur of the animal and his clothes. Intrigued, he examined them under a microscope, giving him the idea of creating a simple fastener with a similar principle. He patented his idea in 1955, and gave it a name: Velcro, a portmanteau of the French words for velvet and hook.

Image: Daria Nepriakhina

In 1968, a 3M scientist called Spencer Silver was attempting to develop a strong adhesive but "failed," instead creating a weak one. He still tried to put it to some use, but no one could think of any practical application for it. Years later, Art Fry - one of his colleagues at 3M - found it was very useful to keep bookmarks in place, and this eventually led to the manufacturing of the ubiquitous Post-it Notes.

Image: Towfiqu barbhuiya

In 1879, Russian chemist Constantin Fahlberg was working with a coal tar derivative when he noticed it left a sweet taste in his hand. Realizing this particular compound was the culprit, he named it saccharin and began commercializing it as a food additive. The product was almost banned right away by concerned chemists, but after a few hiccups, the first artificial sweetener was born.

Image: Guillermo Ferla

In 1965, radio engineers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson stumbled upon cosmic microwave background radiation while testing a sensitive antenna. At first, they thought the strange heat being picked up was the fault of a family of pigeons that settled inside their antenna, but after removing them, the anomaly persisted. This accidental discovery provided compelling evidence for the Big Bang theory -predicted almost 20 years before by theoretical physicists- and shaped our modern understanding of the universe's origins.