Looking for the signature drinks of the world’s best bars? From the Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans to the Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands and the Wiki Wacker in Avalon, PubClub’s guide explores the iconic cocktails, legendary bars and destinations behind them.
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Nightlife Blogger
Ever wonder where those famous drinks served at bars and restaurants all over the world came from and what bar created them?
Wonder no more, for PubClub.com has the answer and the history right here.
Irish Coffee
This warm coffee drink with Irish whiskey and topped with whipped cream is the creation of the Buena Vista restaurant in San Francisco. Located at the Hyde Street turnaround just up from Fisherman’s Wharf, it traces back to November, 1952 when the owner challenged a travel writer to said if they could recreate an “Irish coffee” he had at Shannon Airport in Ireland.
It took a while – even including making a trip to Ireland – but eventually they created their own version of it. Go in today and there is a bartender who does nothing except make them in assembly-line fashion.
Long Island Iced Tea
The Long Island Iced Tea – a crazy concoction that basically mixes ever clear liquor behind the bar – was created at the Oak Beach Inn in 1972 on, where else, Long Island. Robert “Rosebud” Butt lays claim to it although as is the case with several of these drinks, there is some controversy about its origin.
Some claim a chap named “Old Man Bishop” created it in a community called Long Island in Bristol, TN, during Prohibition.
Mai Tai
The legendary tiki drink of the Pacific islands was created in 1944 at Trader Vic’s in Oakland, CA, by Victor J. Bergeron, best known as Trader Vic. Then again it could have been in 1933 at Donn Beach, by Donn The Beachcomber.
What is not disputed is that it became famous when Bergeron took it to the Royal Hawaiian and Mona Hotel in Waikiki Beach in 1953. It was an instant hit and nicknamed the “top tourist tantalizer” in 1959. The name was supposedly derived from the Tahitian word for good or excellence, maitaʻi, and made into two words.
Today, the Royal Hawaiian remains the standard for the Mai Tai, although tourists were getting to drunk on the original and it’s no longer on the menu. Locals and savvy barflies (like PubClub) know how to order the original, however.
Pain Killer
The Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands created this drink. An afternoon bar – and frequent hangout of singer Kenny Chesney – it gets its name because people pay for drinks with “soggy dollars” because it’s on an island and there is no dock for boats.
The Pain Killer was created because people would show up with hangovers after a night of rum-drinking on other islands so this was to “kill their pain.” It consists of dark rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juice (proportions are secret), topped with fresh grated Grenadian nutmeg, served in it’s signature logo plastic cups.
The Pain Killer is just one of many cool cocktails in the BVIs.
Pina Colada
The Pina Colada was created in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I have been to Barrachina, the original Pina Colada bar in Old Town. This is disputed by a hotel on the beach, which has a bartender who claims he created it. As one who does not take these things lightly, I have checked with locals and conducted a lot of research and am sticking with Barrachina as the bar that created the Pina Colada cocktail.
Surfers On Acid (shot)
I know this location well as I – and everyone else in the area – went to it every Sunday night. It’s 12th Street Bar & Grill in Manhattan Beach, CA. I was introduced to it by my regular bartender who insisted I try it: 1/3 Jager, 1/3 Malibu Rum and 1/3 pineapple juice. “It sounds terrible,” I protested but it turned out to be really good. And powerful!
I liked it so much that I took it on the road with me to a place called Siebkens in Elkhart Lake, WI, when I was in the area for work. Siebenks goes through more Jagermeister than any other bar in the Midwest and it’s only open four months a year. I became a bar hero there when I introduced the bartenders to the Surfer’s On Acid. You can now find a bartender or two at most bars who make it but none know its origin.
Good ‘ol 12th Street closed a few years later but it left a lot of memories for a lot of us, as well as a signature shot.
Next Stops On The Cocktails Party Bus…
• Bars & Restaurants That Serve Signature Cocktails
• Inside The Bar That (Maybe) Created The Pina Colada
• The Fascinating History Of The Margarita
• Paris – The Original Bloody Mary Bar & Other Drinks at Harry’s Bar
Kevin Wilkerson is the founder of PubClub.com, an award-winning journalist and nightlife expert who has covered destinations, bars and cocktails for more than two decades. While working as a newspaper reporter, he received an Associated Press award for investigative journalism.
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