Q 01/05

One theory traces 'cocktail' to coquetier, the French word for which breakfast item, said to have held early New Orleans drinks?

A) Eggcup

B) Teacup

C) Cream jug

D) Sugar bowl

Answer · why

A) Eggcup

Eggcup: the tale has a New Orleans apothecary serving brandy and bitters in a coquetier until customers mangled the word; dictionaries are unconvinced...

Q 02/05

What is a pre-dinner drink meant to sharpen the appetite called?

A) Cordial

B) Digestif

C) Liqueur

D) Aperitif

Answer · why

D) Aperitif

Aperitif: the word goes back to the Latin aperire, 'to open', because the drink, usually something dry rather than sweet, is meant to open the appetit...

Q 03/05

What do you call an alcoholic drink served after a meal, rather than before it?

A) Highball

B) Aperitif

C) Digestif

D) Spritzer

Answer · why

C) Digestif

Digestif: it is poured at the end of a meal in the old belief that it settles the stomach; the usual choices, sipped neat, are brandies and sweet or b...

Q 04/05

Antonio Benedetto Carpano is credited with creating the first modern vermouth in the 18th century in which Italian city?

A) Milan

B) Turin

C) Florence

D) Venice

Answer · why

B) Turin

Turin: Martini & Rossi and other houses grew up in the city in the wake of Carpano's creation, and together they made Turin the centre of the world's ...

Q 05/05

A classic margarita is served in a glass whose rim is coated with what?

A) Sugar

B) Salt

C) Cocoa powder

D) Cinnamon

Answer · why

B) Salt

Salt: a lime wedge run round the rim makes it stick, and careful bartenders coat only the outside so none falls into the drink; the chilli-lime season...