Cocktail la mot thuc uong hon hop co con, la su ket hop cua cac loai ruou manh, hoac mot hoac nhieu loai ruou manh tron voi cac thanh phan khac nhu nuoc ep trai cay, xi-ro co huong vi, hoac kem lanh. Co nhieu loai cocktail khac nhau, dua tren so luong va loai thanh phan đuoc them vao. Nguon goc cua cocktail van con đang tranh luan.


Su dung va cac thuat ngu lien quan Tu đien Oxford đinh nghia ve cocktail nhu sau "Mot thuc uong co con chua đo uong chung cat hoac pha tron voi cac thanh phan khac, chang han nhu nuoc ep trai cay hoac kem". Mot loai cocktail co the chua ruou, đuong va ruou đang/cam quyt. Khi mot thuc uong hon hop đuoc lam tu duy nhat mot loai đo uong chung cat voi binh pha che, chang han nhu soda hoac nuoc ep trai cay thi đuoc goi la highball. Nhieu loai cocktail chinh thuc cua Hiep hoi Bartender quoc te la highball. Khi mot thuc uong hon hop đuoc lam tu đo uong chung cat va ruou mui, se goi la duo]] va neu co su dung them binh pha che goi la trio. Thanh phan đuoc them vao co the la đuong, mat ong, sua, kem va cac loai  thao moc khac nhau.
Đo uong hon hop khong co con giong nhu cocktail đuoc goi la "mocktails" hay "virgin cocktails".


Tu nguyen Nguon goc cua tu cocktail đang tranh chap. Viec su dung cocktail đau tien đuoc ghi nhan khong đe cap đen mot con ngua đuoc tim thay trong The Morning Post and Gazetteer o London, England, ngay 20 thang 3 nam 1798:Tu đien tieng Anh Oxford trich dan tu nay co nguon goc tu Hoa Ky  Lan đau tien đuoc ghi nhan su dung cocktail nhu mot loai đo uong (co the khong con) o Hoa Ky xuat hien trong Noi cac cua nong dan, ngay 28 thang 4 nam 1803:
Drank a glass of cocktail—excellent for the head...Call'd at the Doct's. found Burnham—he looked very wise—drank another glass of cocktail.

Đinh nghia đau tien ve cocktail đuoc biet đen la mot loai đo uong co con xuat hien trong The Balance and Columbian Repository (Hudson, New York) ngay 13 thang 5 nam 1806; bien tap vien Harry Croswell đa tra loi cau hoi "Cocktail la gi?"

Cock-tail 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, in as much as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow any thing else.

Nha nghien cuu sinh vat hoc Anatoly Liberman tan thanh "rat co the" ly thuyet đuoc Laftman (1946) phat trien, ma Liberman tom tat nhu sau:

It was customary to dock the tails of horses that were not thoroughbred They were called cocktailed horses, later simply cocktails. By extension, the word cocktail was applied to a vulgar, ill-bred person raised above his station, assuming the position of a gentleman but deficient in gentlemanly breeding. Of importance [in the 1806 citation above] is the mention of water as an ingredient. Laftman concluded that cocktail was an acceptable alcoholic drink, but diluted, not a "purebred", a thing "raised above its station". Hence the highly appropriate slang word used earlier about inferior horses and sham gentlemen.
Trong cuon sach Imbibe cua minh ! (2007), David Wonderrich cung suy đoan rang cocktail la mot thuat ngu noi ve mot thuc hanh đe nuoi mot con ngua gia bang thuoc đan gung đe con vat "vay đuoi va tro nen đang so".
Mot so tac gia đa đua ra gia thuyet rang cocktail co the la mot tu goi chech đi cua cock ale.


Su phat trien Nguon goc cua cocktail van con chua ro. Theo truyen thong, cocktail la hon hop cua ruou manh, đuong, nuoc va ruou đang. Tuy nhien, vao nhung nam 1860, mot loai cocktail thuong  co them  ruou mui.
An ban đau tien ve huong dan cua nguoi pha che bao gom cac cong thuc pha che cocktail la vao nam 1862 - Cach pha che đo uong; hoac, Nguoi đong hanh cua Bon Vivant, boi "Giao su" Jerry Thomas. Ngoai cac cong thuc cho ruou punch, cocktail sours, slings, cobblers, shrubs, toddies, flip  va mot loat cac đo uong hon hop khac la 10 cong thuc cho "cocktail". Mot thanh phan quan trong khac biet cac loai cocktail voi cac loai đo uong khac trong phan tom tat nay la viec su dung cac loai ruou đang. Đo uong hon hop pho bien ngay nay phu hop voi y nghia ban đau cua "cocktail" nay bao gom cocktail whiskey Old Fashioned, cocktail Sazerac va cocktail Manhattan.
Cac thanh phan đuoc neu (spirits, đuong, nuoc va ruou đang) ket hop voi cac thanh phan cua mot ly cocktail Old Fashioned, co nguon goc nhu mot thuat ngu đuoc su dung boi nhung khach hang quen cua quan bar cuoi the ky 19 đe phan biet cac loai cocktail đa tao ra cach thuc "loi thoi" voi cac loai cocktail moi hon, phuc tap hon.
Trong cuon sach cong thuc Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks nam 1869 cua William Terrington, cocktail đuoc mo ta la:

Cocktail la hon hop đuoc "early birds" su dung rat nhieu đe lam manh them noi tai ben trong, va boi nhung nguoi thich nhung niem an ui nong bong va manh me.

Thuat ngu highball xuat hien trong nhung nam 1890 đe phan biet đo uong đuoc hop thanh tu mot đo uong chung cat va mot binh pha che.
"Bua tiec cocktail" đau tien dien ra đuoc cho la cua ba Julius S. Walsh Jr. o St. Louis, Missouri, vao thang 5 nam 1917. Walsh đa moi 50 khach đen nha vao buoi trua Chu nhat. Bua tiec keo dai mot tieng, cho đen khi bua trua đuoc phuc vu luc 1 gio chieu. Đia điem cua bua tiec cocktail đau tien nay van con. Nam 1924, Tong giao phan Cong giao La Ma St. Louis đa mua biet thu Walsh tai 4510 Đai lo Lindell va noi nay đa tung la noi o cua tong giam muc đia phuong ke tu đo.
Trong thoi ky Cam ruou o Hoa Ky (1920–1933) khi đo uong co con bi coi la bat hop phap, cocktail van đuoc tieu thu bat hop phap tai cac co so đuoc goi la quan bar nguy trang (speakeasy). Chat luong ruou co san trong thoi ky nay kem hon nhieu so voi truoc đay. Co mot su thay đoi tu whisky sang ruou gin, khong yeu đo tuoi đuoc phep su dung va do đo de san xuat bat hop phap. Mat ong, nuoc ep trai cay va cac huong lieu khac đuoc dung đe che giau mui vi hoi cua cac loai ruou kem chat luong. Cocktail ngot de uong hon mot cach nhanh chong, mot can nhac quan trong khi co so co the bi đot kich bat cu luc nao. Voi ruou va bia it co san, cac loai cocktail dua tren ruou đa thay the, tham chi tro thanh trung tam cua tiec cocktail moi.
Cocktail tro nen it pho bien hon vao cuoi nhung nam 1960 va đen nhung nam 1970, cho đen khi hoi sinh vao nhung nam 1980 voi ruou vodka thuong thay the ruou gin ban đau trong cac loai đo uong nhu martini. Cocktail truyen thong bat đau tro lai vao nhung nam 2000, vao giua nhung nam 2000, co mot su phuc hung cua van hoa cocktail theo phong cach thuong đuoc goi la hon hop dua tren cac loai cocktail truyen thong đe lay cam hung nhung su dung cac thanh phan moi la va thuong co huong vi phuc tap.


Tham khao Xem them Mocktail: loai thuc uong pha tron khong ruou


Lien ket ngoai Danh sach cac trang web ve cocktail tai DMOZ Luu tru ngay 26 thang 1 nam 2007 tai Wayback Machine