Cocktail facts for kids

A cocktail is a kind of mixed drink. Usually, it is made with alcoholic drinks such as vodka, gin or rum. Since such spirits do not have much taste of their own (at around 40% alcohol), other ingredients are added.

Common ingredients are fruits, fruit juice, sugar, crushed ice, and ice cubes. If the cocktail is served in a bar or nightclub, it often comes with a piece of fruit on top. For example, a gin and tonic could have a lemon, a Piña Colada could have a pineapple and a cherry.

Most cocktails were invented in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. People began drinking a lot of cocktails in the United States in the 1920s due to Prohibition. Around that time, cocktails from Cuba, such as the mojito, became popular around the world.

There are many non-alcholic cocktails also, so people of many ages may drink them.

Images for kids

• 

  A martini cocktail, served in a cocktail glass

• 

  A Tom Collins, serviced in a glass of the same name

• 

  The first definition of a Cocktail by Harry Croswell

• 

  Flaming cocktails

See also

In Spanish: Cóctel para niños