Screwdriver - What's a nice evening without it ?

Cocktails I must say are a dying breed. As in how many times do we actually go out and get ourselves a cocktail unless we are feeling plush or sitting in one plush place. These are the days of simple drinks either had straight up or with common mixers. Screwdrivers are another story though. We mostly end up having them, without even knowing it's a very popular cocktail called screwdriver. Why? 'cause it's simple to make and just has 2 ingredients. Vodka and Orange Juice.

My own stag parties echo the above mentioned sentiment. I'm usually found begging people to try out some cocktails. Can't help it. Have been in love since I made my first one. Infact I first made a mocktail...which is a cocktail without the alcohol in it :). There was no looking back thereon. I bartended my way through college. It was good money and you saw all the who's who. It wasn't such a glam profession to have then, else might have just continued with it. Interestingly, even after I became a management trainee with the one of the top 3 in India, I earned less than what I made bartending and I worked 6 days to get paid in the company.
Last weekend though was different. Sri J had put down his papers and was finally moving back to B'Lore. Naturally for being a great guy to have as a part of your team and making his life miserable right through, it was but natural to have his sending off at my place. With a great stock of spirits, mixers and a great crowd, cocktails had to be the norm. My crystal collection though was locked up after the glass breaking incident the last time we all got together. Sri J had been the culprit though he still maintains he didn;t do it (Sri J, I told you I'll post this). It was a wild party that only got over at the Kakatiya Sheraton in the morning, with some having the breakfast and the rest feasting on the yum! Chocolate mousse.
Getting back to screwdrivers, It got its name allegedly in the 1950's for oil riggers in mid-east who couldn't find stirrers, so they used their screwdrivers to stir this drink. Some also say it is named so because of the screw (orange juice) and the driver (Vodka). Ideally the next time you feel like having a drink, fix yourself a nice cocktail and figure out the story behind it. Screwdrivers have a whole varied variations to it, from mocktail ones to the very potent ones. Here's a list of them. There are some personal variations too. If you have any, feel free to lemme know and I'll fix myself one of those.

The Original Screwdriver

Glass - HighBall


Ingredients -
Vodka - 60 ml
Fresh Orange Juice - 150 ml

Garnish - Slice of Orange

Method-
1. In a chilled HighBall glass, pour vodka and orange juice over ice.
2. Garnish with slice of Orange. Cheers !

Kentucky Screw Driver

Substitute the Vodka with Bourbon. Also goes by the name of Black-Eyed Susan and Yellow Jacket.

DriveScrewer

Vodka - 1 Part
Orange Juice - 2 Parts

Mix the same way as the screwdriver.

Harvey Wallbanger

Glass - Collins

Ingredients-

Vodka - 30 ml
Orange Juice - 120 ml
Galliano (Herbal Liqueur) - 15 ml

Method-
1. Pour Vodka and Orange Juice into a collins glass over ice cubes and stir.
2. Float Galliano on top with a spoon. Serve.


Variations of the harvey wallbanger exist. If you replace Vodka with Tequila, it becomes a Freddy Fudpucker. If you double the quantity of orange juice, quadruple the quantity of Vodka and triple the quantity of Galliano and serve in a beer mug, its called a Harvey Wall Climber. If you replace Orange juice with Milk, it will be called Harvey CowPuncher (I personally will never try that).

Southern Screw

Substitute Vodka with Southern Comfort in the original Screwdriver.


Slow (Sloe) Comfortable Screw

Substitute the vodka with Sloe Gin in the original screwdriver.

Hi-Fi
Replace the Orange Juice with orange soda ( say Fanta).

Fuzzy Cosmonaut
Substitute Orange Juice with Tang in the original screwdriver.

Sonic Screwdriver
Replace Orange Juice with Blue Gatorade in the original screwdriver.

It's also called Vaderade.

Cordless Screwdriver

Glass - Shot Glass

Ingredients -
Chilled vodka - 30 ml
Cut an orange wedge and coat with superfine sugar. Keep aside.


Method -
1. Pour Vodka into the shot glass.
2. Drink the vodka in one shot.
3. Bite into the sugar coated orange wedge.

Very Screwy Driver

Glass - Collins

Ingredients -
Vodka - 30 ml
White Rum - 15 ml
Tequila - 15 ml
Gin - 15 ml
Orange Juice - 150 ml

Method-
1. Pour all ingredients over ice in a collins glass.
2. Serve (Hic!)

Screwless Driver (Finally a non-alcoholic one)

Glass - Highball
Ingredients -

Ginger Ale - 45 ml
Orange Juice - 150 ml

Method-
1. Mix over ice in a highball and serve.

Posted in: Beverage,Cocktail,Vodka