Cocktails

In general a cocktail is an alcoholic beverage (libation) which is served after 5:00 pm.  The legend says... One day a man won a cockfight and asked his friends over to celebrate. Once there, he asked his daughter to serve wine to everyone in the house; which caused a problem, as she couldn't find enough wine from the same kind to give everyone a cup of the same drink. Obliged to think fast, she got a tub and placed all the wine in it. She mixed it and she served that to her father's guests.

Contrary to what she may have believed, the guests were delighted with the mix.  When her father came to ask, she told him what she did with the wine. While they were speaking, a nearby rooster rustled one of its feathers into the tub of wine while they were there. "A cock-tail", said the father, — therefore, the origin of the name.

A perfect cocktail balances the sweet and sour elements.  Sugar dissolves less in alcohol, so the superfine variety works better. Homemade simple syrup is the most efficient sweetener for cocktails.  "To build a drink" means that you pour the ingredients directly into the glass over ice.  Do not pour ice from the shaker into the glass, unless specified.