Chapter 7: Mini-Stories from the History of Drinking – Cocktail & Shot – Bukowski & Baudelaire bars

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Chapter 7: Mini-Stories from the History of Drinking – Cocktail & Shot

Welcome to the digital edition series of our book, “Bukowski’s SHOTS.”

We’ve decided to make our book, “Bukowski’s SHOTS – A Guide to Mixed Drinks,” available to the public for free. It was born during the pandemic as a way to survive tough times—both financially and mentally—and today, we are gradually releasing it online.

Each installment represents one chapter or block from the book, adapted for the web. At the end of every article, you’ll always find a link to the next chapter so you can keep reading seamlessly.

And once we get to the shots themselves, you can also look forward to our personal recommendations and those classic, bizarre bar anecdotes that are simply part of the Bukowski experience.

Cocktail & shot

Finding the true, original meaning behind alcoholic beverages can sometimes feel like a real detective story. A prime example is the word „cocktail“ itself. It is originally made up of two words: cock and tail. But what could a rooster’s tail possibly have in common with a mixed drink? There are several explanations.

During lectures at Berlin’s Victoria Bar—which were later published as a book called The School of Drunkenness—guests could hear a fascinating story. The name „cocktail“ allegedly originated during cockfights in the USA. After a duel, the owner of the winning rooster supposedly had the right to pluck the colorful feathers from the tail of the defeated bird. He would then traditionally toast to this trophy with the words, „On the cock’s tail!“ However, the book also offers another story, according to which an American bartender kept a large ceramic rooster-shaped jar on his bar. When he had only a small amount of liquid left in various bottles, he would mix the different spirits together and pour them for guests through an opening in the rooster’s tail—at a special price.

We, however, will lean more toward science—specifically towards an amazing publication by linguist Ľubor Králik, The Concise Etymological Dictionary of the Slovak Language, which is the very first publication of its kind in our language.On page 275, you can look up the word kokteil (cocktail), which only entered our vocabulary in the 20th century.Originally, it was reportedly an English term for special ribbons used at horse races to mark non-thoroughbred horses.„The word later became a designation for horses of mixed breed, and was subsequently transferred to mixed drinks.„

The word cocktail first appeared in print back in 1806, a time when Napoleon’s armies were marching across Europe (and Bratislava Castle was still untouched by French cannons). In May 1806, an article appeared in the New York periodical The Balance and Columbian Repository, where editor Harry Croswell explained what a cocktail actually was: „Cock-tail is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.“ Croswell went on to explain that such a drink was excellent for election campaigns. „It is an ideal beverage for Democratic voters, because once they swallow a glass of cocktail, they are ready to swallow anything.„

The origin of the word shot is also rather unclear. Some claim it arose naturally from the quick, sharp movement a bartender makes when they „shoot“ roughly 3, 4, or 5 centiliters of a spirit into a glass. Another theory suggests that a bullet for a gun in the Wild West cost 12 cents—exactly the same as a small drink… hence a shot, like a gunshot.

In our region, out of all the translations like panák or poldecák, we learn the most from the origin of the word štamperlík(shot glass). It is derived from the German word Stamper, which means a stemless glass. That word, in turn, is related to the German stampfen—meaning to stomp, pound, or beat down… And once again, we are right back to the concept of a shot!