Cocktail

Tl:dr All cocktails are mixed drinks, not all mixed drinks are cocktails. The first use of the word "cocktail" was in a newspaper article around 1806. The author used the word in reference to a specific drink he had containing whiskey, sugar and bitters. It caught on and evolved to refer to any spirit mixed with bitters and sugar. An old fashioned is a prime example of a true cocktail. The word cocktail has continued to evolve over the last two hundred+ years and nowadays is fairly synonymous with the term mixed drink. Most people don't know or care to make a distinction. I do. A cocktail is a specific formula. Sugar, bitters, spirit. A mixed drink is any beverage, alcoholic or not, that contains more than one ingredient. By this definition a martini is a mixed drink, not a cocktail. The word cocktail has been abused throughout the years, but it has also shown the world a beautiful kind of magic. What would the world be like without cocktails? All the credit should go to that first mixed drink. "The" cocktail. That one recipe, which would eventually become the old fashioned simply to protect its existence as the masses continue to bastardize the word. That one recipe that has fathered all recipes. But like most dads he never takes the credit he deserves. I respect that. I wish more people did. I may or may not have a sore spot about it. More on reddit.com

So you drank 12-14oz of spirit. Double what you normally would have. More on reddit.com

Japan is not some bizarre other planet place, you order in a bar whatever you want, just like any other country. More on reddit.com

Just my two cents: To me, it's the intent. A cocktail is meant to create an enjoyable combination of flavors to make something new to enjoy. Whereas a mixed drink is liquor being disguised with a mixer to down play the taste of said spirit. Yeah, I know it's arguable, but hear me out. I believe there was a thread in either r/bartenders or r/cocktails where a user complained that not many bars knew how to make a Cuba Libre, and instead made, well, Rum&Coke. I'm going to show a couple of different variations that I mentioned in said thread, and I invite everyone to decide where to draw a line between mixed drink and a proper cocktail: Case no.1 2 oz White Rum 4 oz Coca Cola Build on a glass Case no.2 1½ oz Rum 3¾ oz Coca Cola 1 (lime/lemon) quarter Build on glass, squeeze the lime and drop it inside Case no.3 1½ oz Aged Rum 2 dashes Angostura Aromatic Bitters 3¾ oz Mexican Coca Cola 1 lime wedge Build on a chilled collins glass, press and discard the lime wedge, garnish with a lemon slice or peel. Case no.4 1¾ oz Rum blend ½ oz lemon juice 1⅓ oz cola syrup Top with Brut champagne Shake all ingredients minus the champagne. Then strain into a chilled double old fashioned glass, top with the Brut champagne and garnish with a lemon peel. Again, you decide what recipe is a cocktail through and through and which one should be cast into the dephts of the mixer hell. It's kind of an entrepenurial conclution, but the history of cocktail definition has always been murky, some people still argue on the etymology. I know this is still kind of a shady conclusion, after all, there are cocktails (like the Long Island Iced Tea) where you technically arent supposed to taste the alcohol. I find it kinda fits, given the already murky nature of said line, feel free to disagree. tl;dr A mixed drink is planned as a mixer, a cocktail is planned as a cocktail, IMO. More on reddit.com