Rosel.

Though made of many things, the quintessential cocktail is one part poise and one part bravado. Cocktails are more a personal statement than a flavor preference. They define the social history of America. Having emerged during a brief but austere period in history, cocktails and the cocktail hour are decidedly a product of our ingenuity, ethnic backgrounds, and independence. Only in the puritanical society of turn-of-the-century Americana could a potent concoction of bathtub spirits, a delicate conical glass, and an olive meet.

The Victorian Era of the late 1800s imposed a prudish conservatism on Americans, and oppressed certain social behaviors--namely the consumption of alcohol. Drinking was considered counter-American by English settlers as it encouraged immigrants to adhere to customs brought from the Old World, instead of embracing the temperance and hardworking philosophy of the New World. In fact, it was immigrants like Giuseppe and Mike Gallo who facilitated much of the activity of speakeasies (Barr 169). To a large extent, they were responsible for carrying the California vintners who were struggling to survive the ban on wine. As a result, growers were forced to plant predominately Alicante Bouschet, a grape revered more for its durability than for its ability to make premium wine. But even still, moonshine was easier to make, move, and afford than wine. Distilled sprits emerged from the back hills, bathtubs, and back alleys of New York. At the same time, in the early 1900s, opium intake was on the rise in response to the disdain of and therefore decline in, the enjoyment of alcohol. By 1914, legal restrictions on opium and heroine were soon followed by the prohibition of alcohol. Consumption of alcohol did decline-not because of any moral commitment, but rather because prices on alcohol were high. Inhibiting one's ability to purchase and openly consume alcohol did not destroy cocktail culture; it delivered it. Prior to Roosevelt's Presidency, if one could not afford to frequent speakeasies, but still had a passion for socializing, dinner parties and cocktail parties at home became increasingly popular. Cocktail parties and distilled spirits became the rage-as glamorous as flappers, swing dancing, and jazz. A cocktail was considered a socialite's most important accessory.

Initially, cocktails included any drink composed of a distilled spirit, sugar, water, and bitters; the addition of bitters was the defining characteristic as described by Jerry Thomas, a bartender in 1862 (Edmunds 47). A cocktail then was more commonly known as a "bittered sling." It was common practice in the pre-Civil War South to consume the first "slinger," usually a mint julep in the morning for strength. Mint juleps were also popular beverages from morning till midday. If bitters were added to a rum or whisky based drink, it was known as a cocktail.

The birth of the martini awaited the arrival of dry vermouth via the French to New Orleans in 1851, though Italians still profess their sweet vermouth arrived first in 1834 (Edmunds 78). Like Sherry or Madeira, vermouth is a beverage that originated as a type of wine and ended up as a fortified wine cross breed. Though gin was the original "poison" of choice during the early 1 900s, vodka quickly replaced it. Vodka's muted character adapted more easily to the personalized recipes of contemporary times than the juniper overtone of gin. In his book Drink, A Social History of America, Andrew Barr concludes that a variety of cocktails arose during temperance to quell the pungent, hair-raising, boot-leg gin with the likes of lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, grenadine, and an egg white and ice.

No doubt everyone from Al Capone to the President of the United States had a recipe for the perfect cocktail. President Warren Harding, who was in office during the Prohibition, may not have served alcohol at diplomatic affairs, but he was sure to host a pre-event cocktail reception in his private quarters (Barr 15). Perhaps this was a precursor to the first "cocktail party."

Once the return of true, highbrow spirits was legal, the martini became the darling of social events. Roosevelt's affinity for martinis and cocktail hours brought this American pastime into the mainstream.

A martini is the quintessential cocktail, the recipe for which first appeared in an 1880s bartender's manual, and has become a cult figure, appearing in such cinematic and literary classics as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms of the 1920s and Casablanca of the 1940s. Martinis were further introduced into celebrity during the next several decades. Cocktails have been pushed even further into the spotlight by the glam of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack in the 195 Os, by the "shaken not stirred" appeal of the James Bond era in the 1970s and 80s, and by the three martini lunches and cigar bars of the 1990s. Today the sentiment is the same. People choose cocktails like they choose their wardrobe: it is a defining part of how they present themselves.