Related Directory Categories
- Cocktails (112)
- Cocktails (61)
- Collections and Indexes (51)
- Cocktails (50)
- Cocktails (31)
- Cocktail (21)
- Martinis (15)
- Margaritas (12)
- Cocktails (7)
- Cocktail (7)
Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Screwdriver (cocktail)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| This drink is designated as an IBA Official Cocktail |
|
| Screwdriver | |
| Type: | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Primary alcohol by volume: | |
| Served: | "On the rocks"; poured over ice |
| Standard garnish: | orange slice |
| Standard drinkware: |
 |
| IBA specified ingredients†: |
|
| Preparation: | Mix in a highball glass with ice. Garnish and serve. |
| †Screwdriver recipe at International Bartenders Association }} | |
A Screwdriver is a cocktail made with orange juice and vodka, created sometime before October 24, 1949 (see Earliest Reference).
It is also known simply as a Vodka and Orange.
Contents |
The earliest written reference to the Screwdriver is from the October 24, 1949 issue of Time:
"In the dimly lighted bar of the sleek Park Hotel, Turkish intelligence agents mingle with American engineers and Balkan refugees, drinking the latest Yankee concoction of vodka and orange juice, called a 'screwdriver.'"
One of the stories regarding the creation of the Screwdriver cocktail refers to oil workers mixing their vodka and orange juice with screwdrivers, hence the name. The first reference to oil workers in Iran creating the Screwdriver comes in an article from the April 1965 issue of House & Garden, "Cocktail lore and legend":
"...the screwdriver, which tastes like orange juice but is considerably more potent, is believed to have originated with American oil workers in Iran who drank vodka and orange juice, stirring it with screwdrivers they carried attached to their fatigue pants by loops."
Replacing the flat orange juice with a carbonated orange drink, such as Fanta, produces a cocktail known as a Hi-Fi. A screwdriver in which Tang is substituted for the orange juice is known as a "fuzzy cosmonaut".
To make the beverage more palatable a sweet liquor is often added such as Amaretto. In the "collar city" (Troy, NY) this is often referred to as a Samerreto.
Another variation occurs when the ratio of the components is switched. When mixed as 1 part orange juice and two parts vodka, it is referred to as a Drivescrewer.
The well known Harvey Wallbanger cocktail is a Screwdriver with a splash of Galliano floated on top.
Another variation of the Screwdriver substitutes Sunny D for orange juice, called Critty Bo, named after the first person to successfully ghost ride a moving vehicle.
Back in the early 1970's, drinkers used to justify drinking Screwdrivers above all other drinks.
It was commonly believed it was the healthiest alcoholic drink, because it was half orange juice and it had Vitamin C and other good ingredients to prevent cirrhosis of the liver.
- The episode Waldorf Salad of the popular British television program Fawlty Towers features a misunderstanding between an American who orders a screwdriver and an Englishman (John Cleese) not being familiar with the cocktail by that name.
- Yakov Smirnoff, the Russian comedian, had a routine about working in a bar and not understanding what a screwdriver was, adding milk of magnesia and calling it a "Philip's Screwdriver."
