−Courvoisier Cognac is produced.
−The Tom & Jerry hot cocktail is mentioned in the Symbol and Odd Fellow’s Magazine.
1844 − Dry vermouth produced by the Noilly Company is first introduced in America via New Orleans.
1846 − Dewar’s blended Scotch whisky is established.
−Aalborg akvavit is produced in Norway.
1850 − The first known published illustration of a two-piece cocktail shaker is seen in the London News.
1851 − Walter and Alfred Gilbey open Gilbey’s Gin Distillery.
1852 − Joseph Santini invents the Brandy Crusta in New Orleans.
New Orleans in 1851. New Orleans has created more cocktails than any city in the world and some served during this time include Roffignac, Sazerac, and Brandy Crusta. Other adopted popular cocktails served include Mint Julep, Old-Fashioned, and Milk Punch. For the wealthy, ice from frozen lake and ponds was also available. © Everett Historical / Shutterstock
1853 − New York barkeep George Sala talks about barkeeps in Charles Dickens’s weekly twenty-four-page journal, Household Words. The article describes the barkeep and his assistants as scholarly gentlemen, accomplished artists, skilled acrobats, master magicians, and bottle conjurers as they throw glasses and toss bottles about.
1854 − Canadian Club whisky is produced.
1856 − The word “mixologist” is first coined in the Knickerbocker or New York Monthly Magazine.
−The London Weekly Dispatch quotes the New York Times saying, “Every sentence a man utters must be moistened with a julep or cobbler. All the affairs of life are begun and ended with drinks.”
1858 − Seagram’s VO whisky is produced.
1859 − American bartender Jerry Thomas begins working on his first book, which is published in 1862.
1860 − Campari is introduced by Gaspare Campari.
1862 − Jerry Thomas publishes the first known American cocktail recipe book, Bar-Tender’s Guide, How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant’s Companion.
−The cocktail Pink Gin is invented in London when Angostura bitters was exhibited at the Great London Exposition.
1863 − G. E. Roberts publishes Cups and Their Customs.
1864 − George Pullman designs railway sleeping cars, dining cars, and lounge cars serving cocktails.
1865 − Alexander Walker, Johnnie Walker’s son, develops Old Highland blended Scotch whisky.
1867 − Scotsman Lauchlin Rose introduces sweetened lime juice and names it Rose’s Lime Cordial. By 1879, he perfected the packaging.
−George Dickel builds his distillery.
−Harper’s New Monthly November issue reports that 500 bottles of sherry were opened—in one day—to make Sherry Cobblers priced at one franc at the Exposition Universelle in France. One French franc is equivalent to $13 in 2018 currency.
1868 − Articles on American cocktails and cocktail shakers are published in two British publications: the British periodical Notes and Queries and Meliora: A Quarterly Review of Social Science.
1869 − Englishman William Terrington publishes Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks: Collection of Recipes for “Cups” and Other Compound Drinks and of General Information on Beverages of All Kind. He goes on to publish a second edition in 1872.
−J. Haney publishes Haney’s Steward and Barkeepers Manual.
−Mark Twain mentions a Champagne Cocktail in his memoir Innocents Abroad.
−American composer Joseph Winner wrote the drinking song “Little Brown Jug.” It mentions the spirits gin and rum. Seventy years later, bandleader Glenn Miller recorded it with his swing orchestra.
1872 − Lillet is produced.
1873 − At the World’s Exposition held in Vienna, Austria, the American Exhibition has a giant wigwam with Native American bartenders making cocktails behind three circular bars. The Exposition’s Rotunda bar introduces something new in their cocktails—straws.
1874 − The Criterion restaurant and theater open in London with an American Bar. The decor consists of mirrors and white marble.
−Fundador Spanish brandy is produced.
−While in the UK, Mark Twain writes a letter to his wife, Livy, to gather four ingredients for his return: Scotch whisky, Angostura bitters, lemons, and crushed sugar. He has been drinking this cocktail before breakfast, dinner, and bed at the suggestion of a surgeon to help digestion.
1875 − H. L. W publishes American Bar-Tender or The Art and Mystery of Making Drinks.
−The Jack Daniel’s Distillery is established.
1878 − L. Engel publishes American and Other Drinks.
1879 − O. H. Byron publishes The Modern Bartender’s Guide.
−J. Kirtion publishes Intoxicating Drinks: Their History and Mystery.
−The Grand Hotel Stockholm opens an American Bar.
−Myers’s Dark rum is produced.
1880s − The Cocktail à la Louisiane restaurant invents the Cocktail à la Louisiane in New Orleans.
1882 − Harry Johnson publishes Harry Johnson’s Bartender Manual or How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style.
−The first known mention of a Manhattan cocktail appears in the Sunday Morning Herald from Olean, New York.
1884 − E. J. Hauck patents a three-piece cocktail shaker.
−The New York G. Winter Brewing Company publishes a list of glassware for first-rate saloons. The bartender guide lists over twenty-five types of glassware needed.
1887 − Jerry Thomas publishes the second edition of The Bar-Tender’s Guide or How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks.
−C. Paul publishes American Drinks.
1888 − Henry Charles “Carl” Ramos invents the Ramos Gin Fizz in New Orleans.
−H. Lamore publishes The Bartender or How to Mix Drinks.
1890s − Jules Alciatore invents the Café Brûlot Diabolique (Devilishly Burned Coffee) in New Orleans.
1891 − Henry J. Wehmann publishes Wehmann’s Bartenders Guide. To date, this book has the second known reference to a Martini recipe.
−William T. Boothby publishes Cocktail Boothby’s American Bartender.
1892 − “The Only William” Schmidt publishes The Flowing Bowl—What and When to Drink. Four years later, he published his second book, Fancy Drinks and Popular Beverages. Schmidt’s books were different from all other cocktail celebrity books at the time because his recipes called for unusual items such as tonic phosphate, Calisaya (Italian herbal liqueur), crème de roses, and even a garnish that involved stenciling on a nutmeg. He had Christmas cocktails published in the paper, created a $5 cocktail ($140 in 2018 currency), and although not 100 percent confirmed—but highly believed—he was the first known gay celebrity bartender.
−George Kappeler invents the Widow’s Kiss at the Holland House Hotel in New York.
−G. F. Heublein produces the first commercial Manhattan and Martini bottled cocktails, with the tagline “A better cocktail at home than is served over any bar in the world.”
−Cornelius