Fascinating Stories Behind Famous Cocktails

Usually when it comes to cocktails, we don’t really care to know much about them. Half the time you don’t even know all the ingredients of what it is you’re drinking, just that it tastes sweet (or bitter, depending on your tastes) and usually looks fairly colorful.

Some cocktails out there have some truly amazing stories behind them, however. It might not make them taste better, but it’s entertaining and it won’t make them taste worse either. Let’s dive into some cocktail history. Grab a drink, while you’re at it!

Daiquiri

Named after the village in Cuba with the same name, the Daiquiri wasn’t a very popular drink until a U.S. Navy officer fell in love with it and introduced it to the Army and Navy clubs. The invention of the Daiquiri is also quite fascinating: during the Spanish-American war, most booze was hard to come by. As nothing else was readily available, people used rum for their drinks instead.

Margarita

Most stories about Margarita’s origin lead back to a woman. Sadly, we’re not quite sure which woman it is that we can hold responsible for the creation of this drink: it’s either dancer Marjorie King, singer Peggy Lee or ambassador’s daughter Margarita Henkel.

Bloody Mary

The Bloody Mary might have been nothing more than a mispronunciation of the Slavic syllables for “Vladimir” (as in: Vladimir Smirnov, for who the drink was made). Another popular theory is that it was the favorite drink of Queen Mary I of England.