As soon as humans discovered leisure time, they discovered something else, namely boredom. Clearly in an effort to improve this situation, booze was invented and good times were had by all. Booze, of course, lowers inhibitions and thus usually makes people a lot more talkative and sociable. This combination has led to many fantastic tall tales about the cocktails we know and love.

10 Harvey Wallbanger

The Harvey Wallbanger has an extremely funny name, and that should be a feat in its own right considering the ridiculous names given to some drinks. This cocktail is in essence a screwdriver—a combination of vodka and orange juice—with Galliano, a yellow liqueur, added to the mix. The drink was probably invented in the 50s by a world-champion mixologist by the name of Donato Antone. However, according to the legends it has a much different origin. The stories say there was a dude named Harvey who liked to surf and he would drop into the bar for a couple of quick ones after work pretty much every day. Apparently the guy liked to add Galliano to his screwdriver and would sometimes stumble around the bar smashing into things, especially the wall. The legends say that the drink thereafter became known as a Harvey Wallbanger, quite literally because of Harvey’s drunken antics. It has become associated with the summer months, presumably because of the surfing connection.

9 Bloody Mary

The Bloody Mary is an extremely famous cocktail and needs little introduction. It is often the go-to hangover “cure”, and is generally consumed early in the morning for that purpose. The Bloody Mary has many variations, but they all include vodka, tomato juice, and a selection of spices for flavor. While most people attribute the creation of the drink to a restaurateur in the early 1900s, some people have come up with a much more fanciful explanation. Apparently some people attribute at least the name of the drink to Queen Mary, who was often known by her much more sanguinary nickname due to her brutal attempts to return Catholicism to England—some suggest that the tomato juice is supposed to represent blood. However, there isn’t any real evidence to support this theory.

8 Gin and Tonic

Some of the stranger legends actually turn out to be completely true, and this is one of them. You see, according to the stories, British soldiers fighting in the Indies were constantly dealing with a little problem called malaria, which at the time—or any time for that matter—was not really such a little problem. The British at the time had tonic water that contained a compound called quinine, which was extremely effective at fighting malaria. The only problem was that tonic water tasted pretty much as awful as anything can, so the British soldiers mixed their gin with it to make it palatable. After the war, many British men ordered it upon returning home and a famous cocktail was born. Unfortunately, while there is still enough quinine in today’s tonic water to make it glow blue in direct sunlight, there is not enough of the compound anymore to effectively fight malaria.

7 The Manhattan

The Manhattan, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, is basically a Martini for those who really like their whiskey over vodka. A Martini usually consists of vodka or gin, vermouth, and is served with an olive. A Manhattan consists of whiskey, vermouth, bitters, and is often served with a maraschino cherry as a garnish. Long before the Second World War, Winston Churchill’s mother lived in the United States and, according to the stories, was celebrating in New York. Supposedly she had quite the sweet tooth and the drink was invented to fit her palate. While the story fits with our love of Winston Churchill and his wacky antics, it unfortunately has no basis in truth. Historical evidence points to his mother being in England at that point, actually pregnant with the future wise-cracking guy we all came to know and love.

6 Irish Coffee

While much cocktail lore is shrouded in mystery, this particular story is probably true, or at least much closer to the truth than many legends. Many people assume that Irish Coffee gets its name because the Irish like to drink, so it seems likely that if anyone were to dump alcohol in their coffee, it would be those drug-addled boozers. However, the Irish in general are much bigger tea drinkers. Long ago in Ireland a flight was delayed and the bartender put whiskey in the coffee of the stranded American passengers, thinking it would warm them up.The passengers were delighted with his creation and wondered if it was Brazilian coffee, to which he retorted that it was Irish. In fact the drink was such a hit with the passengers that word of it was taken back to the United States, where it achieved great popularity. It should be noted, though, that in the original legend whipping cream and sugar are not mentioned, so the cocktail likely went through much more evolution before it reached its current form. Even today it is still evolving as people are more likely to use already whipped cream, as opposed to doing the job by hand to get the right consistency.

5 Mojito

The Mojito is a rum-based cocktail that has long been popular with sailors. The drink makes use of mint leaves by first using a muddler to release their flavor. These mint leaves are then mixed with lime juice, sugar, and soda water. As with many famous cocktails, its origin is shrouded in mystery, but its birthplace was definitely Cuba. One feature the various stories seem to have in common and that makes perfect sense is the Mojito’s ability to help to fight off scurvy, which would explain its popularity among sailors. Long before modern medical science had figured out all that jazz, sailors often had to deal with a scurvy problem, and citrus was one of the best preventatives.

4 Screwdriver

The Screwdriver is a drink that hardly needs any introduction at all. In fact, as a combination of vodka and orange juice, it’s about as simple as cocktails get. However, its origins are not as simple. The most popular story goes that the Screwdriver came to be when miners or other blue-collar workers started mixing vodka and orange juice using their screwdrivers. However, it is hard to be certain whether there is much veracity to this legend. Another story says that the Screwdriver, along with other vodka-based beverages, was first invented and pushed by one John Martin, who was trying to make Smirnoff Vodka a big brand in the United States. Not only is he credited by some with inventing the Screwdriver, but legend says he once filled a tanker with his Screwdrivers and handed them out on Hollywood Boulevard to promote his business.

3 Cosmopolitan

The Cosmo is a vodka-based cocktail perhaps best known for being the drink of choice among the characters on the popular television series Sex and the City. Its iconic place on the show has cemented its reputation as a “girly” drink. However, despite its reputation, it’s hardly one of the fruitiest cocktails the world has ever seen—in essence it’s just vodka and cranberry with triple sec and lime juice to make it more interesting. The legends say the drink was created by the gay community in Massachusetts in the 1970s. However, recipes have been found from long before with slight variations—such as gin instead of vodka—and its true origins are likely to remain a mystery. Still, the strangest truth of the Cosmopolitan is that it would probably never have achieved its status as an iconic cocktail without the television series with which it is associated.

2 Zombie

The Zombie is a drink that doesn’t really have a standard recipe, except for the fact that it usually includes rum and some kind of fruit juice. This is because the drink was originally invented by a man known as Don the Beachcomber, and was so popular that he kept the recipe a closely guarded secret. He told only parts of the recipe to different bartenders, so no one but him knew the entire method to his madness. This secrecy unsurprisingly led to many variations and opinions on the drink, some of them quite vociferous. However, one author believes he has found an original version of the recipe written by its inventor, which utilizes three different types of rum and enough alcohol to make you believe you are a zombie by the time you’ve drunk it. Perhaps with this new-found recipe, the zombies will rise from the earth once more to feast upon the living.

1 Pina Colada

The Pina Colada is one of the most famous cocktails in existence, featuring in a song that anyone reading this can probably sing at least a couple bars from. It is made from pineapple juice, rum, and coconut. What may be more surprising to know is that the all-important third ingredient, cream of coconut, was essentially responsible for the drink. The Pina Colada was more than anything a mark of success for a businessman named Don Ramon Lopez, who owned a company that sold a premade cream of coconut drink called Coco Lopez. He made sure to get the cream of coconut into the hands of as many bartenders as possible and encouraged them to experiment with it. One of the bartenders eventually hit upon the famous combo beloved by so many today and the rest was sweet, corporate history.

For every new follower on Twitter, Gregory Myers will take a shot, but he won’t do it in any way you can prove.

We love to imbibe! The sound of a shaker tossing around chunks of ice as pristine spirits splash around inside. The condensation on a half-finished Old Fashioned. The glorious variety or colors, glassware and garnishes. Having a cocktail and feeling socially loose and lubricated is a pleasure many of us love dearly. However, most of us have no idea what we are drinking or where it came from. Why is called what it’s called. Plus, you know you want to be that person to impress your friends with this niche knowledge. Because at the end of the day, cocktail history is hazy, crazy, and down-right catty sometimes when it comes to claiming to have created a drink. Here are some of the best backgrounds to ten classic cocktails.

Top 10 Bizarre Alcoholic Drinks

10 Manhattan

Popular myth tells a grandiose tale of Winston Churchill’s mother ordering a “whiskey martini” at NYC’s Manhattan Club and then cheering the concoction upon tasting it to the crowd’s applause. This is false. Winston Churchill’s mother, Lady Randolph Churchill was pregnant with him during this “gathering” on another continent. It’s unlikely she was going around creating legendary cocktails. The true story states… “The Manhattan cocktail was invented by a man named Black, who kept a place ten doors below Houston street on Broadway in the 1860’s” which was written by William F. Mulhall who tended bar for three decades at New York’s legendary Hoffman House where the drink seems to have been truly conceived. And yes, the Manhattan Club still flaunts the lie about Churchill’s mom.^[1]

9 Margarita

This cocktail has over a half dozen origin stories spanning from 1936-1961. Some of the stories are more than just a bar claiming fame. A Dallas socialite claimed to have created it at a party which was attended by Tommy Hilton of Hilton Hotel’s where he later served in it his hotel’s bars. There is also a story of a bartender who whipped it up on the fly to impress a Ziegfeld dancer who was allergic to most spirits except tequila. All not true. The real story comes down to chronological plausibility. Margarita means “Daisy” in Spanish, and a daisy cocktail was around for quite some time, but made with brandy. As Americans flooded over the border during prohibition to wet their whistles’, brandy was substituted out with tequila and the margarita was born.^[2]

8 Pina Colada

This festive classic can trace its roots back to Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresi, who reportedly gave his crew a concoction of coconut, pineapple and rum to boost morale. Unfortunately, hordes of places on the island claim to be the originator these days. The best answer is that Ramon “Monchito” Marrero created the recipe after months of alchemy as he worked behind the stick at the Caribbean Hilton Hotel. As this is the earliest conception of the cocktail and since it coincides with the birth of a key ingredient during that same time-frame, Coco Lopez, the government of Puerto Rico backs all of this and even celebrates Monchito and the bar as national treasures.^[3]

7 Aviation

This “Bartender’s Handshake”, in-the-know cocktail was originally shaken-up by Hugo Ensslin at the Hotel Warwick in New York in 1916. There is, however, a recipe feud amongst aficionados. Considered the “dean of cocktail shakers”, Harry Craddock omitted the hypnotically floral crème de violet when he published his masterful Savoy Cocktail Book, considered the quintessential cocktail manual, in 1930. The original recipe is what’s commonly served nowadays and the recipe has had a complete resurrection with younger generations as it is refreshing, different, and delicious.^[4]

6 Mint Julep

Hold your horses! It’s important to mention cocktails were initially considered medicinal elixirs. Nearly every alcoholic recipe from the 18th and 19th centuries was considered a remedy for some ailment. The mint julep falls into that category. Southern farmers would drink it instead of coffee in the morning believing it put more of a pep-in-their-step and its earliest literary mentions go back as far as the 1780’s. The drink gained worldwide fame when it became the official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby in 1938 and nowadays you can get one in a golden cup for $1000. Back in the day, they preferred a pewter or silver cup and it was strictly held by the very top or bottom to prevent the heat from one’s hand from melting the intended frost that would build around the metal from the chill of the crushed ice. The word “julep” is from the ancient Persian word “galub” which means “flavored rosewater”.^[5]

10 Quenching Legends, Myths, And Stories Involving Alcohol

5 Sidecar

This delicious classic, one of six essentials every bartender should master according to David Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948), has a vivid backstory. London and Paris both claim the rights to this bold cocktail, both are wrong. New Orleans, which is about to steal the show the next few drinks, is the hands-down “cocktail capital of the past” and gets to technically claim this one as its own too. The fact is London’s legendary Pat MacGarry brought it from Paris where the Ritz claims it along with Harry’s New York Bar (also in Paris). Legend goes, an American army captain after WW1 arrived at Harry’s in a motorcycle sidecar and specified the ingredients of the drink. I would bet good money the unknown army captain was from Louisiana and what he was actually ordering was a “Brandy Crusta” that goes as far back as 1862.^[6]

4 Vieux Carre

Pronounced “voo-ca-ray”, this absolute essential fell out of grace with bartenders in the 70’s and 80’s once mixers got into the game. This dangerous goblet of whiskey and brandy is New Orleans to the bone. The name literally means “French Quarter”. Although it can be a difficult drink to make at 6 steps to build, it has made a formidable resurgence and is currently a sign a bartender knows what they are doing by being able to mix it by memory. Invented in 1938 by Walter Bergeron while behind the stick at the historic Hotel Monteleone in the “Big Easy”, this drink and where it was born deserves a place on your bucket list as the bar itself in the hotel is unlike any other with a wooden custom-carved rotating carousel.^[7]

3 Gin & Tonic

This drink, literally, had a hand in why the sun never set on the British Empire. Gin itself was created as a medicinal elixir by Dr. Sylvius de Bouve in Holland during the 16th century. In 1640, utilizing the bark from the cinchona tree from South America, quinine syrup was extracted and proven to not only cure, but prevent malaria which was having a hell of a time on humans worldwide. When mixing quinine syrup with soda water, you get tonic. Gin and tonic then went global as soldiers and the British East India Company mixed the medicinal tonic with their gin rations (yes, the booze was also considered medicinal at the time).^[8]

2 Sazerac

These next two are a bit controversial in their order, but best to get back to New Orleans. Home to the Sazerac, French 75, Hurricane, Vieux Carre… need I say more? Named after a French cognac with the same namesake that was initially used in the recipe, it is said Aaron Bird created the cocktail at the Sazerac Coffee House smack in the middle of the Crescent City with the bitters (and apparently help) of the renowned alchemist himself, Antione Amedie Peychaud (inventor of Peychaud bitters) in the 1850’s. Considered the first cocktail by many, this concoction had two major improvements in the 1870’s… absinthe was added to the recipe and the base changed from cognac to rye whiskey after an insect plague wiped out Frances vineyards at the time, halting all cognac production. It should be noted that Peychaud is credited for the word “cocktail” as he used a double-sided egg cup to measure his ingredients for his experimental potions, which back then, the little egg cup (which was the precursor to what is the “jigger”), was called a “coquetier”.^[9]

1 Old Fashioned

During prohibition, booze was mostly stringent bootleg garbage. So, naturally, a lot of classics had their recipes tainted during that era by a ton of unnecessary sweeteners. That’s why, when I write about an Old Fashioned, I do not mean the drink with a fruit salad dumped under the ice. An Old Fashioned should simply have a large chunk of ice and a cherry as garnish. That’s it. The recipe first appears on paper in 1862, and then James E. Pepper gets credit for bringing it from Louisville, Kentucky to the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC. Why is this one number one? It’s bitters, sugar and booze… this is where I consider it all started in its purest form. Absinthe didn’t show up in the Sazerac until the 1870’s, so the Sazerac was still evolving while the Old Fashioned has always been what it is. It’s the “old fashioned way” to sweeten up your whiskey. Cheers!^[10]

Top 10 Drinking Games

About The Author: Former chef and bartender with 10 years of New York City restaurant experience.