A screwdriver is a simple and popular 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 (a.k.a ...

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. A ...

and

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...

. 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 Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...

. 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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 ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, makin ...

, in 1943 and 1944 and later in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. 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. Starting mid-1950, 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). It is distributed in 130 countries. Smirnoff produ ...

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 (liqueur), Galliano, and orange juice. It is a variant of the screwdriver (cocktail), screwdriver, and was very popular in the United States in the 1970s. History The Harvey Wall ...

. A screwdriver with two parts of sloe gin, 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. W ...

, 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, or mocktail) is a cocktail-style beverage made without alcoholic ingredients. Also called "zero proof" drinks, the non-alcoholic drink dates back to the earliest days ...

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

tonic water Tonic water (or Indian tonic water) is a carbonated soft drink in which quinine is dissolved. Originally used as a prophylactic against malaria, tonic water usually has a significantly lower quinine content and is consumed for its distinctive b ...

. A screwdriver with

apple juice Apple juice is a fruit juice made by the maceration and pressing of an apple. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspe ...

instead of orange juice is an "

Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...

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