Harvey Wallbanger

Breakfast/brunch · Citrusy · Classic/vintage

4.0 128 ratings

Ingredients

How to make

Flavour profile

14.2% alc./vol. · 1.3 standard drinks · 189 calories

History

The Harvey Wallbanger, a celebrated cocktail of the 1970s, is essentially a Screwdriver (vodka and orange juice served tall over ice) topped with a float of Galliano liqueur. Its popularity, which dominated its era, waned as the 1980s began, succumbing to shifting trends, pre-packaged juices, and changes to Galliano itself. The original Galliano, Galliano L'Autentico, underwent alterations by its marketers, who reduced its alcohol content from 42.3% to 35% alc./vol. in the 1970s, and later to 30% alc./vol. in the 1990s. During this period, the flavor profile was also modified, with vanilla becoming the predominant note. Fortunately, Galliano L'Autentico was reintroduced in 2006 and is now available alongside the contemporary Galliano Vanilla. While both are commendable liqueurs, Galliano L'Autentico is necessary for an authentic Harvey Wallbanger. This cocktail necessitates freshly squeezed orange juice. While one might forgo squeezing juice for breakfast, the quality of freshly squeezed juice is apparent in a hotel or bar setting. It offers a distinct difference from the sweeter, marmalade-like taste of packaged orange juices. The addition of vodka and the aromatic, herbal, peppermint notes from the Galliano float create a tall, revitalizing cocktail, explaining its significant success in the 1970s. Traditionally, a Harvey Wallbanger is prepared without sugar syrup or bitters, though their inclusion enhances the drink. It is important to note that shaking the initial four ingredients, instead of stirring, diminishes the cocktail's texture, rendering it unduly thin.

One story suggests that 'Harvey' was Tom Harvey, a surfer from Manhattan Beach, California, whose preferred drink was a Screwdriver with Galliano added. The tale goes that in the late 1960s, after winning a surfing competition, he celebrated by moving from bar to bar, his surfboard striking the walls, thus giving the contemporary classic cocktail its name. However, an alternative account credits the drink's origin to Bill Donner, who hosted a house party in Newport Beach, California, in the mid-1960s. A guest named Harvey reportedly complained the next morning of a hangover caused by this drink, banging his head. Investigations by booze historian Robert Simonson have shed light on the origins of this drink, which achieved significant popularity in the 1970s. He discovered an article in The Hartford Courant, dated 3rd September 1977, titled "Retired Mixologist To Teach Tunxis Drink-Making Class at Tunxis Community College." The article states, "... it's not the mix that makes a drink, but the mixer, says the instructor of the noncredit course, Donato 'Duke' Antone. He is the creator of the Harvey Wallbanger and more than 50 nationally consumed drinks." This provides written evidence, though Robert Simonson voices some doubt. He does, however, propose that Antone developed the cocktail while working as a marketing consultant for George Bednar, the Marketing Director of McKesson Imports Co. during the late 1960s, who were the US importers of Galliano Liqueur at the time. This theory is supported by a statement in the same 1977 Hartford Courant article: "Antone...has not limited himself to mixing drinks. Rather, he has been active in all aspects of the liquor industry, ranging from restaurant design to marketing." Simonson speculates that Bednar approached Antone in 1966 with the objective of creating a cocktail to promote Galliano. Antone was already known for a Galliano-intensive drink called the Italian Fascination and is credited with inventing the Freddy Fudpucker, which is a Harvey Wallbanger incorporating tequila. Therefore, Donato "Duke" Antone is credited not only with creating the Harvey Wallbanger, but also, according to legend or perhaps clever marketing, with making the drink for a surfer named Tom Harvey while he was bartending at the Blackwatch Bar on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood in 1952. George Bednar was evidently a skilled marketer who hired a commercial artist named Bill Young to produce a poster promoting Galliano through the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail. Bednar himself is credited with writing the tagline for the advertisement: "Harvey Wallbanger is the name. And I can be made!" The pop-art advertisement, featuring a sandal-wearing, hippy-like figure with an attitude, was highly successful. As the 1960s transitioned into the 1970s, this character appeared on T-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers, while the cocktail gained widespread popularity. By the summer of 1973, advertisements emerged for a pre-mixed, canned version of the Harvey Wallbanger called "The Club Wallbanger," made with Smirnoff Vodka. It is possible that this canned version contributed to the eventual decline of the Harvey Wallbanger. When prepared with fresh orange juice, it is an excellent drink, much like a Screwdriver. However, when made with pasteurized orange juice, it devolved into a forgettable Disco Drink of the Seventies.

Created by Bill Doner