The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word BITTERS
B
I
T
T
E
R
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "cocktail ingredient" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cocktail ingredient = bitters.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does BITTERS mean?
BITTERS noun- (usually in the plural bitters) A liquid or powder, made from bitter herbs, used in mixed drinks or as a tonic.
- A type of beer heavily flavored with hops.
- A turn of a cable about the bitts.
- To make bitter.
- (in combination) A hardware system whose architecture is based around units of the specified number of bits (binary digits).
- A liquid used in mixed drinks or as a tonic into which bitter herbs have been steeped (it can also be found in powdered form for adding to mixed drinks).