Photos, Videos: Revisit These Classic Cocktails From America's First Mixologist, Jerry Thomas

Sipping a cocktail may be about enjoying the moment, but shouldn't you pause to appreciate its origins once in a while? America has a storied past when it comes to mixed drinks, but we owe a lot of the classics to Jerry Thomas, our very first mixologist. He was also the first to write down his recipes, publishing The Bar-Tender's Guide in 1862 and giving us sugar- or salt-rimmed drinks, dramatic flaming cocktails, and maybe even the martini. Not a bad legacy.