A screwdriver is an alcoholic

highball A highball is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, gin and tonic, screwdriver ...

drink made with

orange juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...

and

vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

. In the UK, it is referred to as a "vodka and orange". While the basic drink is simply the two ingredients, there are many variations. Many of the variations have different names in different parts of the world.

History

The drink originated 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 ...

, when Americans in China and Turkey mixed

neutral spirits Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countr ...

with orange juice. The origin of the name "screwdriver" is less clear, but the name appeared in

Ankara, Turkey Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( Etimesgut, Yenimahalle, Çankaya, Keçiören, Altında ...

, in 1943 and 1944 and later in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. Variations on the recipe were present in 1948 in Turkey and also called screwdrivers, such as a mixture of one-third vodka and two-thirds gin, and another recipe adding gin, cognac, bitters, and other ingredients to orange juice and vodka. An unattributed but popular story for the name is that the Americans lacked a spoon and instead used a screwdriver as a stirring stick. Another unattributed story is that auto workers in the US used to pour vodka in their breakfast orange juice before starting the shift and used screwdrivers to stir the glass. Starting mid-1950s, vodka rose rapidly in popularity in America, and mixed drinks such as the screwdriver rose with it. Advertising campaigns in the 1950s and 1960s by vodka brands such as

Smirnoff Smirnoff (; ) is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov (1831–1898), but its modern incarnation traces back to the ...

cemented the screwdriver as a vodka favorite.

Variations

The screwdriver served as the foundation of the

Harvey Wallbanger The Harvey Wallbanger is a mixed drink made with vodka, Galliano, and orange juice. It is a variant of the screwdriver, and was very popular in the United States in the 1970s. History The Harvey Wallbanger was created in 1969 as a marketing c ...

. A screwdriver with two parts of

sloe gin Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and Prunus spinosa, blackthorn fruits (sloes), which are the drupe fruit of the ''Prunus spinosa'' tree, which is a relative of the plum. As an alcoholic drink, sloe gin contains between 15 per c ...

, one part of

Southern Comfort Southern Comfort (often abbreviated SoCo) is an American naturally fruit-flavored whiskey liqueur with fruit and spice accents. The brand was created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans in 1874, using whiskey as the base spirit. Whi ...

, and filled with orange juice is a "sloe comfortable screw" or "slow comfortable screw". A screwdriver with one part of sloe gin, one part of Southern Comfort, one part Galliano, and filled with orange juice is a "sloe comfortable screw up against the wall". A screwdriver with one part of sloe gin, one part of Southern Comfort, one part Galliano, one part tequila, and filled with orange juice is a "sloe comfortable screw up against the wall Mexican style". A "virgin screwdriver" is a

mocktail A non-alcoholic mixed drink (also known as virgin cocktail, temperance drink, "zero proof" drink or mocktail) is a cocktail-style beverage made without alcohol. Non-alcoholic mixed drinks date back to when cocktails emerged, appearing as "temp ...

(non-alcoholic variation), usually made with orange juice and

tonic water Tonic water is a carbonated soft drink in which quinine is dissolved. Originally used as a prophylactic against malaria, modern tonic water typically has a significantly lower quinine content and is often more sweetened than the original medic ...

. A screwdriver with apple juice instead of orange juice is an "

Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (March 25, 1940 – December 16, 2024) was an American singer and anti-gay rights activist. She had three top 20 hits in the United States in the early 1960s. She was the 1958 Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and a brand ...

cocktail". Bryant was an American singer and spokeswoman for the

Florida Citrus Commission The Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) is an executive state agency for agriculture in Florida in charge of regulating, researching and marketing the state's citrus industry and citrus research. Its headquarters are in the Bob Crawford Agricu ...

during the 1960s and 1970s. Starting in 1977, she became an anti-gay-rights activist. Because Bryant promoted orange juice, the gay community retaliated by boycotting it in the

1977–1980 Florida orange juice boycott Anita Jane Bryant (March 25, 1940 – December 16, 2024) was an American singer and anti-gay rights activist. She had three top 20 hits in the United States in the early 1960s. She was the 1958 Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and a brand ...

. Gay bars across North America stopped serving screwdrivers and invented this cocktail to replace it. The sales and proceeds of the cocktail went to gay rights activists and helped fund their work against Bryant. The campaign was ultimately successful, as Bryant's activism damaged her musical and business career. Her contract with the Florida Citrus Commission was left to expire in 1980 after they stated she was "worn out" as a spokesperson.

References

External links

Drinknation.com: Screwdriver variations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Screwdriver (Cocktail) Cocktails with vodka Cocktails with orange juice Two-ingredient cocktails Brunch

History

Variations

See also

References

External links