Phill, Lilly and Jo are taking a break this week but Kocktail Kev is with you and introduces a new weekly short segment on Banterists about cocktails, including their stories, how to make them, and tasting along with readily available ingredients and straightforward proportions using a 25 ml/50 ml measure. He defines a cocktail as a combination of two or more drinks with at least one alcoholic, and notes mixed drinks like gin and tonic also qualify though are often distinguished from more complex bar cocktails. He shares two 19th-century origin theories for the word “cocktail,” including New Orleans egg cups and docked horse tails indicating mixed breed. He then presents his first featured drink, the Whisky Mac, named for Colonel Hector McDonald (“Fighting Mac”) in India in 1899, made from Scotch whisky and ginger wine; he prefers a 2:1 whisky-to-ginger-wine ratio over the pub-standard 1:2 and gives a simple mixing method. He previews next episode on margaritas and making syrups.

00:00 Welcome to Cocktails

01:42 What Is a Cocktail

02:04 Cocktail Name Origins

02:40 Meet the Whiskey Mac

03:04 History Behind the Drink

03:17 Ingredients and Ginger Wine

04:06 Finding the Right Ratio

04:46 How to Make One

04:56 Next Episode and Goodbye

Our podcast music is called  ‘The best jazz club in New Orleans’

Music by Paolo Argento from Pixabay

Kocktail Kev Music is called Velvet shadows full version by Kaazoom on Pixabay