United States

How each drink is tied to United States

Associations are editorial judgements. The evidence link shows the source used.

• ManhattanOriginCreated here

  The first known print mention is a New York newspaper column of September 1882 describing whiskey, vermouth and bitters as newly in vogue, and the first full recipe is Byron's 1884 bartending guide. The Manhattan Club banquet story with Jennie Jerome is rejected because she was in England at the time. Difford's favors George Black's Manhattan Inn on Broadway in the 1870s as the likely source, an inference from a 1923 memoir rather than a proven fact.

  Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• MartiniOriginCreated here

  The Martini grew out of the Martinez and the Manhattan in the United States; the first recipe titled Martini is in Harry Johnson's 1888 manual and the first Dry Martini titles appear in American books of 1904 and 1906. Who first made it is unknown, and Difford's says so plainly. The Martinez, California miners' story is folklore. Marked medium because the country is certain and the creator is not.

  Confidence: mediumEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• Old FashionedOriginCreated here

  The whiskey cocktail of spirit, sugar, water and bitters is American from the start: Difford's cites a May 1806 definition of the word cocktail printed in upstate New York. The name Old Fashioned followed in the 1870s, when drinkers asked for the plain version instead of the new improved cocktails with liqueurs. Documented origin; the Louisville Pendennis Club story is told on other pages and is not the source of the drink.

  Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• SazeracOriginCreated here

  A New Orleans drink by every account: Antoine Peychaud opened his Royal Street apothecary in 1834, the cocktail took its name from the Sazerac de Forge et Fils cognac sold by local agent Sewell Taylor, and Thomas Handy's bar became the Sazerac Coffee House around 1870, switching to rye when phylloxera made cognac scarce. The Louisiana Legislature named it the city's official cocktail in June 2008. Wondrich's theory that it began as a bottled whiskey cocktail changes the story, not the city.

  Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• Whiskey SourOriginCreated here

  Sours are an American family from Jerry Thomas's 1862 guide onward, and Difford's dates the earliest known Whiskey Sour mention to 1870 in a Wisconsin newspaper. An 1883 Washington Star column has a Chicago bartender claiming the red wine float that became the New York Sour. The drink thrived through Prohibition and has stayed a cornerstone of American bars.

  Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• Irish CoffeeIconicClosely identified with the country

  Difford's dates the drink's arrival in America to November 10, 1952, when Delaplane sat with Jack Koeppler at the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco to recreate what he had tasted in Ireland. Getting the cream to float took time and a trip to Shannon. The Buena Vista still serves thousands a day, which makes San Francisco the drink's second home.

  Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• DaiquiriPopularWidely drunk here

  The Daiquiri entered American drinking through the Navy. Admiral Lucius Johnson visited Cox in Daiquiri in 1909 and carried the drink to the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C., where a plaque in the Daiquiri Lounge records the event. Its creator was American and its first cocktail book appearance was American, but the drink belongs to Cuba.

  Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• French 75PopularWidely drunk here

  The first reference of all is American, a 1915 Washington Herald item on a Soixante Quinze cocktail linked to a war correspondent, and the modern champagne recipe first appears in Judge Jr.'s 1927 New York book Here's How. Difford's adds that the cognac version is widely associated with Arnaud's French 75 Bar in New Orleans and with American writers such as Embury and DeGroff. Popular association on strong print evidence.

  Confidence: highEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• NegroniPopularWidely drunk here

  The Negroni's modern reach is an American story as much as an Italian one. Imbibe Magazine, a Portland publication, launched Negroni Week in 2013 with about 120 venues; the event now runs in thousands of bars worldwide and has raised more than five million dollars for charity. Difford's also notes the first American printed recipes date to 1955. Popular association, not origin.

  Confidence: mediumEvidence: negroniweek.com (opens in a new tab)

• Pisco SourPopularWidely drunk here

  Difford's credits Joe Baum with promoting the Pisco Sour at La Fonda del Sol in New York in the 1960s, which helped it travel beyond Peru and Chile, and its pisco category page calls the drink a classic in America, especially on the west coast. Victor Morris himself was an American from Salt Lake City. Popular association, not origin.

  Confidence: mediumEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

• MargaritaContestedThe origin is disputed

  American claims compete with the Mexican ones. Johnny Durlesser of the Tail O' The Cock in Los Angeles is credited by a 1955 newspaper with making it in 1937, though the bar opened in 1939, and Santos Cruz of the Studio Lounge in Galveston, Texas, is another named claimant. The first printed recipes under the name are American, in a 1953 newspaper and in Esquire that December.

  Confidence: mediumEvidence: diffordsguide.com (opens in a new tab)

The recipes