When used to refer to any ordinary alcoholic beverage mix, a cocktail may mean any beverage that contains two or more ingredients, provided at least one of those ingredients contains alcohol.

Cocktails can more specifically represent drinks with at least three flavors, one of which is alcohol. More specifically, it must contain alcohol, sugar and bitterness / citrus. When a mixed drink contains only distilled alcohol and a blender (such as soda or juice), it is a stock. Many of the official cocktails of the international bartender association are high-profile. When the mixed drink only contains distilled liquor and liqueur, it is a duet; when the mixer is added, it is a trio. Other ingredients may be sugar, honey, milk, cream and various herbs.

The source of the cocktail is unclear. Traditionally, cocktails are a mixture of spirits, sugar, water and bitters. But by the 1860s, cocktails often included liqueurs.

The first publication of the bartender's Guide included cocktail recipes, which began in 1862 - "how to mix drinks.". Or professor Jerry Thomas's "the companion of bonvivante" has 10 recipes for cocktails in addition to the recipes used to make punches, acids, suspenders, cobblers, shrubs, clams D, duck tongue grass and other mixed drinks. In this compendium, the key ingredient to distinguish cocktails from other drinks is the use of bitterness agents. Today, mixed drinks that fit the original meaning of "cocktail" include: old whisky cocktail, sazerac cocktail and Manhattan cocktail.