The Cocktail Hour

Whether you sip it with friends, chug it before hitting the dance
floor, or take it as a post-work pick-me-up, there’s clearly
nothing like a cocktail for bracing the spirit. In addition to its
peculiar history as a medicinal tonic, plenty of hard science lies
behind the perfect cocktail, from the relationship between taste
perception and temperature to the all-important decision of whether
to shake or stir. What’s more, according to historian David
Wondrich, mixology is “the first legitimate American culinary
art”—and one that has since caught on around the world. Raise a
glass, and listen in as we discover the cocktail’s historical
origins, its etymological connection to a horse’s butt, and its
rocky history, post-Prohibition. We also check out an original copy
of the world’s first cocktail recipe book at New York City’s
bartending mecca, Cocktail Kingdom; take a private cocktail science
class with Jared Sadoian of The Hawthorne in Boston; and talk
red-hot pokers with culinary scientist Dave Arnold. Cheers! Learn
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