Terms of Endearment

After Jerry Thomas' Bon Vivant's Companion (1862) and before prohibition (1919), drinks fell under a much more standardized classification. Although these distinctions were still used following prohibition, they had been mostly forgotten by the public. Back then, a cocktail was a cocktail (see below), not just a term for any mixed drink. And a martini was gin, vermouth, and orange bitters, not anything that is served up in a cocktail glass.

• Buck = a highball made with ginger ale + lime/lemon juice.
• Cobbler = base spirit or wine/sherry, stirred with sugar, poured over crushed ice with plenty of fresh fruit, served with a straw and a spoon.
  
• Cocktail = base spirit, sugar, bitters, chilled and generally served up. The word "cocktail" first appeared in print 1803, but the first printed explanation of the word was in The Balance on May 13, 1806:

  Cocktail is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters-it is vulgarly called bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion...

  Later, especially with the introduction of vermouth, a cocktail could be any spirit with a sweetening and bittering agent, usually served up.
  
• Collins = lemon juice, spirit, sugar, soda water built in a tall glass over ice.
  
• Cooler = a long spiral of a whole lemon/lime/orange placed in a Collins glass, then ice, spirit, and soda built in the glass.
  
• Crusta = a relative of the cocktail, but with a sugared rim, and garnished with the entire zest of a lemon or orange.
  
• Daisy = a single-serving punch, using grenadine or raspberry syrup as sweetener, citrus and spirit, served over crushed ice and garnished with fruit.
• Eggnog = spirit (usually rum or brandy) shaken with eggs, milk, and sugar.
  
• Fix = another single-serving punch like the Daisy, but using pineapple syrup.
  
• Fizz = lemon juice, sugar, spirit, (and sometimes egg) shaken and poured into a medium sized glass, topped with soda water.
  

  Golden Fizz = egg yolk
  Silver Fizz = egg white
  Royal Fizz = whole egg

• Flip = wine, sherry, or spirit, shaken with sugar and a whole egg, served hot or cold.
  
• Frappe = a cordial or sweetened spirit shaken and poured over crushed ice, then stirred until frost forms on the outside of a glass.
  
• Highball = any spirit and carbonated mixer over ice.
• Julep = mint and sugar muddled then combined with a spirit served over shaved ice.
• Pousse Cafe = small amounts of spirits floated on top of each other. The higher the specific gravity, the lower in the layer it will be. Usually, higher alcohol means lower specific gravity. Good lists of weights here.
  
• Punch = spirits, water, and sugar flavored with fruits and spices, usually made in large quantities.
  
• Rickey = pretty much a Collins with lime instead of lemon. The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) states that:

  Most Rickeys are made with the following recipe : Use medium size glass. 1 lump of ice. The juice of 1/2 lime. Then add 1 glass of any Spirit or Liqueur fancied. Fill with carbonated water and leave rind of lime in glass.

• Sangaree = chilled, sweetened spirit or sherry, served over ice with nutmeg grated on top.
• Shrub = spirit infused with sugar and fruit for several days, served over ice, sometimes with a carbonated mixer.
• Sling = spirit, sugar, and sometimes lemon juice, often stirred with cold water to chill, and served over a small amount of ice.
  
• Smash = mint, sugar, and sometimes lemon juice (muddled), and spirit served over ice. Jerry Thomas called this a "julep on a small plan", as this was usually a smaller, quicker drink.
  
• Sour = from The Savoy again:

  A Sour is usually prepared from the following recipe: The juice of 1/2 lemon. 1/2 tablespoonful of sugar. Add 1 glass of Spirit or Liqueur as fancy dictates. Shake well and strain into medium size glass. One squirt of Soda water. Add one slice of orange and a cherry.

  ...though sours are often also made with egg whites.
• Swizzle = the name of this drink refers to the old swizzle stick used to make it. The stick would have prongs around it's base so that when spun between the palms it would mix the spirit, citrus, and sweetener in an ice filled glass.
  
• Toddy = spirit and water, usually hot, with sugar, citrus, and spices.