Harvey wallbanger | Sazerac | Cocktail Stories
Every year on November 8th International Harvey Wallbanger Day is celebrated.
Everybody knows this three ingredient drink, but do you know the story of how it got its name?
Surfing U.S.A
Legend has it that in the 50s there was a famous surfer in the States called Tom Harvey. One day after a huge wipe out at a surfing competition, Harvey wandered into a bar on Sunset Boulevard, California, and ordered a Screwdriver cocktail mixed with a measure of Galliano.
Tom got so drunk off of these neon coloured cocktails that he started banging his head off of the wall (possibly in frustration at his earlier performance on his board) and hence the name of this cocktail was invented, the Harvey Wallbanger.
It wasn’t just the cocktail that became more popular, the Italian spirit Galliano became the most popular spirit to be imported to the U.S.A during the seventies. Whether or not the story of the cocktail’s creation was true, Galliano embraced the tale and included Tom Harvey the surfer in their promotional adverts alongside the Tiki trend that came about in the 1970s.
This result the Tiki glasses in every beach bar on the West Coast filled with a Harvey Wallbanger.
Harvey Wallbanger recipe
Glass: Highball or Tiki
Ice: Cubed
Method: Build and Float
Ingredients:
• Vodka 3cl
• Galliano (float) 1cl
• Orange Juice (fill to top)
Sazerac was America's first cocktail.
According to the Sazerac company, the drink was developed at the Sazerac Coffee House in the mid-1800s using Sazerac French brandy and Peychaud's bitters. in 1873 the recipe was reportedly altered to replace the French brandy with American rye whiskey. A dash of absinthe was also added. The drinks were made using a measuring cup known as a "coquetier" (pronounced "ko-k-tay"), from which the word "cocktail" is derived. Thus, the claim of being the world's first cocktail.
Sazerac Houses existed all over the country at the time.
"Sazerac was a very popular saloon name," . "So any time you went into any of them and asked for a cocktail, it could be called a Sazerac cocktail."Thus the name comes to the cocktail.
• 2 oz Rye whiskey
• .5 oz Simple syrup
• 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
• Absinthe
Rinse a chilled glass with absinthe and discard the absinthe. Stir the other ingredients in a mixing glass, strain into the chilled glass, and garnish.