It's not what you think

There is a lack of clarity on the origins of cocktails. mostly everyone agrees that it is either the leftovers of a beer cask mixed together - with added bitters, sugar and water, sold as a lower priced mixed beverage of questionable integrity.

Or something about a horse with a docked tail that signaled a less than a thoroughbred.

According to the WIKI the first "cocktail party" ever thrown was allegedly by Mrs. Julius S. Walsh Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1917. Mrs. Walsh invited 50 guests to her home at noon on a Sunday.

Meet me in St. Louis, Louie...