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THETIPSY TAILENDER

Drive in the fun

Photo: V.V. Krishnan

Inviting! Sangita, a hostess at Shangri-La Hotel’s Iceland Bar, holds a glass of screwdriver

One of the easiest cocktails to make is Screwdriver. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it? Screwdriver is absolutely for those who want a fine drink but just don’t want to put too much effort to fluff it up. All it needs is vodka (any brand) with pineapple and/or orange juice (any brand on supermarket shelves) with some ice cubes plonked into it. And lo!

Your drink is ready in your hand. Those willing to make a modest effort can try out the Screwdriver variants, to add that extra punch to the time-honoured recipe.

But first, let’s flip to America of the early 1950s. Screwdriver was born in that country during that time of the last century. A few theories float around, in books on cocktails and on the Internet, as to how the drink got its name.

One story leads to a man seemingly in a hurry, who unable to find a stirrer to mix the drink, had made use of a screwdriver. Then there is a far more plausible theory. It says the drink owes its name to wordplay. In typical tavern language, the two main elements are called screw and driver. In this case, orange juice is the screw and vodka the driver. So I guess the same logic gives the name Driverscrew to the drink if the vodka content is two parts and the orange juice one part.

Before trying it out myself, I go to meet bartender Vivek Kumar at Shangri-La Hotel’s Iceland Bar. His reaction is motivation enough: “O, it’s a ladies’ drink.” All the better then!

Vivek first pours 180 ml of juice into a cocktail shaker and then adds 60 ml vodka to it. Before churning, he tips in some coconut juice, “to nullify the touch of bitterness in pineapple juice”. He empties the shaker on to a pilsner glass, pushes in a straw and a pineapple wedge on the rim, and places it in front of you. In less than 10 minutes!

He charges Rs.500 for the drink before taxes.

Now, ideas for those game for the variations. Pick a bottle of Angostura bitters from any mall. Add it to your Screwdriver and you would realise it was not for nothing a dash of it was added to the early versions of the cocktail. If you want it sweet, add some Amaretto liqueur.

You can mix it with

Southern Comfort too or even add a bit of cranberry juice. In case you have seen the film Doctor Who, you must be already familiar with the Screwdriver version mixed with Gatorade, a non-carbonated drink.

To add to your information, some original thinker has already come up with an interesting adaptation. It is called Rusty Screwdriver. You know why? It is made of orange juice, after it gets expired and begins to turn brown!

(The author is learning a thing or two about cocktails and mocktails and taking the reader along sangeetab@thehindu.co.in)

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