Urban Bar: Harvey Wallbanger
So are you ready? For Sunday night, I mean. When the smooth sounds of lounge crooning will be pouring out of sound systems all over the land. When chafing dishes will be reached down for negimaki and caquelons readied for fondue. When dry cleaning tabs will pop open on sharp white shirts, to be worn with the narrowest ties. When shirtwaist dresses in cunning prints will float down over crinolines. When we welcome back a few months of the Cold War, of three-martini lunches and chainsmoking, of brush cuts and bouffants.
If you're a devotee of sixties swank, then you know that this Sunday, the new season of Mad Men premieres. Last year we celebrated with Martinis for Two, as clean and crisp as a puff off of a menthol slim. Go ahead and serve martinis; they are the essence of period cool. But this year, we are also mixing up a batch of an iconic sixties libation: the Harvey Wallbanger.
Every vintage entertaining book and pamphlet in my considerable collection of them showcases the Harvey Wallbanger as the essence of 1960s partying. In this context, Harvey was known not so much for his sophistication as his sense of abandonment (or, if you prefer, abandoning his sense): legend says the drink is called that because a surfer named Harvey routinely got so wasted on them that he'd bump into walls. But that fits with the sixties ethos of witty fun mixed with colorful sophistication that also gave us Doris Day movies, linen luncheon suits and van der Rohe furniture.
So, this Sunday, slip a pitcher of Wallbangers alongside the Rheingold. They're easy to make and easier to drink; really just a screwdriver topped with a floater of the lively herbal notes of Galliano L'Autentico. And if the other reason for Harvey's popularity presents itself -- that women would collect the distinctive bottles as men emptied them while showing off -- then that's appropriate to the period, and to a celebration, too.
HARVEY WALLBANGER
Most liquor stores stock Galliano; look for a long, cylindrical bottle among the liqueurs. Most drink pitchers are 32 ounces; this recipe will make a pitcher. As with many cocktails, there is room for experimentation with ratio; this is the ratio we like in our urban home. Accordingly, for some, this recipe will be slightly heavy on the Galliano; if you prefer, make the pitcher of screwdrivers and set the Galliano out for your guests to pour their own toppers.
3 cups orange juice
1 cup good vodka (Absolut works well)
6 tablespoons Galliano L'Autentico
1. Fill an ice bucket with crushed ice and set bucket, an ice scoop, and six highball glasses on the bar.
2. Pour the orange juice into the serving pitcher.
3. Pour the vodka into the orange juice. Stir to combine.
4. Measure the Galliano into the screwdriver one tablespoon at a time; stir after each addition.
5. Serve cocktail over ice in a highball glass.
If you're a devotee of sixties swank, then you know that this Sunday, the new season of Mad Men premieres. Last year we celebrated with Martinis for Two, as clean and crisp as a puff off of a menthol slim. Go ahead and serve martinis; they are the essence of period cool. But this year, we are also mixing up a batch of an iconic sixties libation: the Harvey Wallbanger.
Every vintage entertaining book and pamphlet in my considerable collection of them showcases the Harvey Wallbanger as the essence of 1960s partying. In this context, Harvey was known not so much for his sophistication as his sense of abandonment (or, if you prefer, abandoning his sense): legend says the drink is called that because a surfer named Harvey routinely got so wasted on them that he'd bump into walls. But that fits with the sixties ethos of witty fun mixed with colorful sophistication that also gave us Doris Day movies, linen luncheon suits and van der Rohe furniture.
So, this Sunday, slip a pitcher of Wallbangers alongside the Rheingold. They're easy to make and easier to drink; really just a screwdriver topped with a floater of the lively herbal notes of Galliano L'Autentico. And if the other reason for Harvey's popularity presents itself -- that women would collect the distinctive bottles as men emptied them while showing off -- then that's appropriate to the period, and to a celebration, too.
HARVEY WALLBANGER
Most liquor stores stock Galliano; look for a long, cylindrical bottle among the liqueurs. Most drink pitchers are 32 ounces; this recipe will make a pitcher. As with many cocktails, there is room for experimentation with ratio; this is the ratio we like in our urban home. Accordingly, for some, this recipe will be slightly heavy on the Galliano; if you prefer, make the pitcher of screwdrivers and set the Galliano out for your guests to pour their own toppers.
3 cups orange juice
1 cup good vodka (Absolut works well)
6 tablespoons Galliano L'Autentico
1. Fill an ice bucket with crushed ice and set bucket, an ice scoop, and six highball glasses on the bar.
2. Pour the orange juice into the serving pitcher.
3. Pour the vodka into the orange juice. Stir to combine.
4. Measure the Galliano into the screwdriver one tablespoon at a time; stir after each addition.
5. Serve cocktail over ice in a highball glass.
Right? So excited for Sunday night.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Holyoke. Love your blog; thanks for reading mine.
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