As a child, I loved reading superhero comic books. My favorites were the ones about the origins of these characters. Now that I'm older, I don't read comic books (much) anymore, but I am still fascinated about the origins of things.

When I'm looking through a cocktail book, I am always trying to find out if this author provided any insights as to the origins of the cocktails that they write about. Some do, but most don't. I suppose cocktails can often be a hard origin to track down, unless they are named after the person or establishment that actually invented them.

But what about the term "cocktail" itself? What are its origins?

As it appears to turn out, the origins of the word "cocktail" will probably never be known. While I have come across some references that claim to have the true story on where this term came from, I have also come across equally good references that claim it is from some other root.

As an indication of the wide variety of stories surrounding the origins of the cocktail, here are the various versions I have run across.

Betsy Flanagan

What appears to be a very popular story, has to do with a innkeeper named Betsy Flanagan. Her husband was killed in the revolution, and she herself was considered to be one of the heroes of the revolution. In 1779 she opened an inn near Yorktown, which was frequented by American and French soldiers (Yorktown is a tiny village, but it's important in American history because the definitive battle of the American Revolution was won by George Washington there in 1781, see picture).

Nearby to the inn was an Englishman who raised chickens. Probably due to the current political climate, Betsy was none too fond of this neighbor, and she loved to promise her American and French patrons that one day she would serve them a meal of roast chicken. To which her guests would often mock her, claiming that this was all bravado and that she would never carry through with it.

On an evening that saw an unusual number of officers gathering at her inn, Betsy invited them into the living room, where they were served a grand meal of chicken, freshly "acquired" from the English neighbor. When the meal was over, Betsy moved her guests to the bar, where she proudly served up rounds of "Bracer" (which was a popular drink recipe at the inn). Betsy had decorated each drink with a tail-feather from the recently consumed chickens. To this, the officers gave three cheers to celebrate the defeat of this one particular Englishman. "Let's have some more cocktail" one officer proclaimed. To which a French officer added "Vive le cocktail!", and the drinking continued long into the night.

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