An illegal bar or nightclub that sold alcohol during Prohibition (1920-1933 in the United States) when alcohol was banned.
From 'speak easy,' meaning you had to speak softly or quietly to avoid attracting police attention. The term was well-established by the 1880s before Prohibition made it famous.
Speakeasies created modern cocktail culture—bartenders invented complex drinks partly because the illegal alcohol tasted terrible and needed to be masked with mixers and bitters, accidentally founding mixology.
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