The Screwdriver is minimalist in its simplicity and probably one of the most widespread cocktails in the world. Which is hardly surprising, given its composition: orange juice and vodka. Orange juice is the world’s best-selling juice, while vodka ranks second among spirits by total sales and first by usage in cocktails. Ingredients that are almost always at hand. For many cocktail lovers, the Screwdriver was the very first drink they ever mixed themselves.
The origin of the cocktail is, once again, truly folk. It is believed that American soldiers stationed in Europe during World War II began adding vodka to orange juice. Familiar spirits were hard to come by in war-torn Europe, so Americans poured orange juice into cheap vodka—or even diluted alcohol—to make the drink more palatable.
The name is even more obscure. According to the most popular version, the cocktail owes its name to American oil workers who were working in Saudi Arabia in the late 1940s. A Muslim country, and therefore a sober one—you couldn’t just drop into a bar after work, so they had to improvise. Vodka was poured into orange juice right on the job. Spoons were in short supply at the worksite, but a screwdriver was always in a pocket. Not the only improvised stirring tool, by the way, to give a cocktail its name: according to legend, the Rusty Nail was once stirred with an actual rusty nail.
The cocktail was first officially mentioned in Time magazine on October 24, 1949:
“In the dimly lighted bar of the sleek Park Hotel, Turkish intelligence agents mingle with American engineers and Balkan refugees, drinking the latest Yankee concoction of vodka and orange juice, called ‘screwdriver’.”
The Screwdriver gained real popularity in the 1950s and 60s. This was the period when vodka producers, including Smirnoff, were actively promoting vodka on the American market, and the Screwdriver became one of the flagship cocktails of those advertising campaigns.
As with any cocktail built from a minimal set of ingredients, quality is crucial. The juice should be freshly squeezed, and the vodka should be good. Even then, the drink may seem a bit simple in flavor.
Not surprisingly, Screwdriver-based cocktails with various flavor-enhancing additions appeared quite quickly. For example:
•Harvey Wallbanger, with the addition of the Italian herbal liqueur Galliano
•Fuzzy Navel, where vodka is replaced with peach schnapps
•Summerthyme Screwdriver, with fresh thyme, Aperol, and soda
Interestingly, one variation of the Screwdriver was created not for gastronomic but for political reasons. In the 1960s–70s, the official advertising spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission (Florida grows most of America’s oranges) was the singer Anita Bryant. When Bryant became an active participant in the organized anti-gay movement, gay bars across North America stopped serving Screwdrivers and instead offered vodka with apple juice—a cocktail named Anita Bryant.
You can also give the Screwdriver a little extra kick by adding a splash of orange liqueur and a few dashes of bitters.
Ingredients:
•1⅔ oz / 50 ml vodka
•3⅓ oz / 100 ml orange juice
•⅔ oz / 20 ml triple sec (optional)
•2 dashes Angostura bitters (optional)
Method:
Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Add all ingredients. Stir.
Garnish: orange slice
Glassware: highball
