The PB2Y, or PB2Y Gremlin, is a tiki drink created by

Victor Bergeron Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902 in San Francisco – October 11, 1984 in Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polynesia ...

as part of a series of "gremlin" drinks for his ''

Trader Vic's Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902 in San Francisco – October 11, 1984 in Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polynes ...

'' restaurants during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Ingredients

The ingredients for the cocktail calls for 1 1/2 oz of silver rum, 1 1/2 oz of orange juice, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 1/2 oz orange curacao, 1/4 oz lime juice, and 1/4 oz grenadine, along with 3 cups of crushed ice and garnished with a

gardenia ''Gardenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Madagascar, Pacific Islands, and Australia. The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus and John Ellis after ...

. Bergeron's 1947 ''Bartender's Guide'' called for the drink to be served in a ceramic "gremlin bowl."

History

Bergeron served three different sized versions of his Gremlin drinks depending on how many people would be drinking the cocktail. The P-40 Gremlin was for one person, the PB2Y Gremlin served two, and the B-17 Gremlin served four.

Life magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

called them "formidable looking potions." The drinks were in general named after the mythological

Gremlin A gremlin is a mischievous fictional creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft, and later in other machinery, processes, and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. ...

creatures that caused mechanical problems for World War II aviators. The PB2Y was a reference to the

PB2Y Coronado The PB2Y Coronado is a large flying boat patrol bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft, and used by the US Navy during World War II in bombing, antisubmarine, medical/hospital plane, and transport roles. Obsolete by the end of the war, Coro ...

military plane. As a morale builder Bergeron sent packages of his drinks to fliers in the South Pacific. The drink may have been part of the general competition between Bergeron and

Donn Beach Donn Beach (born Ernest Raymond Gantt; February 22, 1907 – June 7, 1989) was an American adventurer, businessman, and World War II veteran who was the "founding father" of tiki culture. He is known for opening the first prototypical tiki bar, Do ...

, who had served in World War II. Beach allegedly had a B-26 Bomber with a painted "Don the Beachcomber" on its

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

named after him, and he had also created aviation themed cocktails such as the

Q.B. Cooler The Q.B. Cooler is a vintage tiki cocktail invented by Donn Beach that calls for a mixture of several rums (Puerto Rican dark rum, Jamaican rum, Demerara 151 proof rum), two syrups ( fassionola, falernum), fruit juices (orange, lime), and honey, ...

and

Test Pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

. The two frequently fought over drink recipes.

Gremlin bowl

Similar to a

Scorpion bowl A Scorpion bowl is a communally shared alcoholic tiki drink served in a large ceramic bowl traditionally decorated with wahine or hula-girl island scenes and meant to be drunk through long straws. Bowl shapes and decorations can vary considerably ...

, the PB2Y was typically served with long straws for sharing. The drink as served in a gremlin bowl featured a motif of a woman being chased across a tropical island by a Gremlin. Few examples of the bowl exist in the 21st century, and they carry a resale value in the thousands of dollars.

References

{{reflist Tiki drinks Cocktails with light rum Cocktails with triple sec or curaçao