Screwdriver is a highball composed of orange juice and vodka. The drink is a product of World War II, when American troops and civilian technicians in theaters such as China and Turkey, where whisky and other well-known potables were scarce, took to cutting neutral spirit—whether it was military ethanol or Turkish vodka—with orange juice. The name “Screwdriver” for the practice first turns up in Ankara, Turkey, in 1943, where it was apparently coined by interned American airmen, but its etymology has never been adequately explained. When the Screwdriver drinkers returned home, they brought the drink’s recipe with them, and just in time for the nascent vodka boom. The drink enjoyed great popularity in the postwar years as American drinking habits skewed simpler and stronger, and vodka came to be favored. The fact that it was featured prominently in the advertising for Smirnoff, the leading American vodka brand, did not hurt that popularity. In the 1960s, the Screwdriver went on to serve as the foundation of later highballs such as the Harvey Wallbanger and Sloe Comfortable Screw. See Harvey Wallbanger. It remains widely popular, although it seldom receives much discussion among cocktail aficionados.
Recipe: Pour 45 ml vodka in highball glass filled with ice. Top with 90 ml orange juice. Garnish with orange slice if desired.
See also Highball and Smirnoff.
“Allied Troops in China Eat Turkey.” Rockford (IL) Morning star, November 26, 1943.
Cohn, Art. “War Diary.” Long Beach (CA) Independent, August 1, 1944, 11.
O’Brien, Mrs. Frank. “Friend, Foe Dine in Ankara at Pop Karpic’s Restaurant.” Baltimore Sun, May 23, 1943, 3.
By: Robert Simonson