PB2Y (cocktail)

Last updated

The PB2Y, or PB2Y Gremlin, is a tiki drink created by Victor Bergeron as part of a series of "gremlin" drinks for his Trader Vic's restaurants during World War II. [1] [2]

Contents

Ingredients

The ingredients for the cocktail call for 1 1/2 oz of silver rum, 1 1/2 oz of orange juice, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 1/2 oz orange curacao, 1/4 oz lime juice, and 1/4 oz grenadine, along with 3 cups of crushed ice and garnished with a gardenia. [3] Bergeron's 1947 Bartender's Guide called for the drink to be served in a ceramic "gremlin bowl." [4]

History

Bergeron served three different sized versions of his Gremlin drinks depending on how many people would be drinking the cocktail. The P-40 Gremlin was for one person, the PB2Y Gremlin served two, and the B-17 Gremlin served four. Life magazine called them "formidable looking potions." [5]

The drinks were in general named after the mythological Gremlin creatures that caused mechanical problems for World War II aviators. [6] The PB2Y was a reference to the PB2Y Coronado military plane. As a morale builder Bergeron sent packages of his drinks to fliers in the South Pacific. [7] The drink may have been part of the general competition between Bergeron and Donn Beach, who had served in World War II. [8] Beach allegedly had a B-26 Bomber with a painted "Don the Beachcomber" on its fuselage named after him, and he had also created aviation themed cocktails such as the Q.B. Cooler and Test Pilot. [9] The two frequently fought over drink recipes. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Gremlin bowl

Similar to a Scorpion bowl, the PB2Y was typically served with long straws for sharing. The drink as served in a gremlin bowl featured a motif of a woman being chased across a tropical island by a Gremlin. [14] [15]

Few examples of the bowl exist in the 21st century and they carry a resale value in the thousands of dollars. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiki culture</span> Pseudo-Polynesian decor and themes

Tiki culture is an American-originated art, music, and entertainment movement inspired by Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian cultures. Inspired by Oceanian art, influential cultures to Tiki culture include Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, the Caribbean Islands, and Hawaii. The name comes from Tiki, the Māori name for the first human, often represented in the form of hei-tiki, a pendant and important taonga. The hei-tiki was often appropriated by Europeans as a commercialised good luck charm, hence the name of Tiki culture. Despite spanning over 10,000 miles and including many different unrelated cultures, religions, and languages, Tiki aesthetic is considered by some to be amalgamated into one "fantasia of trans-Pacific cultures" and "colonial nostalgia". Because of this, and the simplistic view of the Pacific taken by the aesthetic, Tiki culture has often proved controversial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mai Tai</span> Cocktail based on rum, Curaçao liqueur and lime juice

The Mai Tai is a cocktail made of rum, Curaçao liqueur, orgeat syrup, and lime juice. It is one of the characteristic cocktails in Tiki culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie (cocktail)</span> Cocktail made of fruit juices and rum

The Zombie is a Tiki cocktail made of fruit juices, liqueurs, and various rums. It first appeared in late 1934, invented by Donn Beach at his Hollywood Don the Beachcomber restaurant. It was popularized on the East coast soon afterwards at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

Donn Beach was an American adventurer, businessman, and World War II veteran who was the "founding father" of tiki culture. He is known for opening the first prototypical tiki bar, Don the Beachcomber, during the 1930s in Hollywood, California, which was expanded to a chain of dozens of restaurants throughout the United States. He later built the International Market Place and additional establishments in what was then the Territory of Hawaii. He married three times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trader Vic's</span> Polynesian-themed American restaurant chain

Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. founded a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants that bore his nickname, "Trader Vic". He was one of two people who claimed to have invented the Mai Tai. The other was his amicable competitor for many years, Donn Beach of the "Don the Beachcomber" restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falernum</span>

Falernum is either an 11% ABV syrup liqueur or a nonalcoholic syrup from the Caribbean. It is best known for its use in tropical drinks. It contains flavors of ginger, lime, and almond, and frequently cloves or allspice. It may be thought of as a spicier version of orgeat syrup.

Fassionola is a typically red colored syrup that is fruit flavored that was frequently used in tropical drinks during the 1930s but is now a relatively unusual ingredient. It also comes in green and gold varieties that sometimes are made to taste differently. It is used as a fruit punch concentrate and some claim that a red colored fruit syrup called fassionola was an ingredient in the original Hurricane cocktail. Although a frequent attribution, solid evidence of fassionola's use in the Hurricane from before 1956 is lacking, and it is not known what were the precise ingredients in the earliest version of fassionola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocktail umbrella</span>

A cocktail umbrella or paper parasol is a small umbrella made from paper, paperboard, and a toothpick. They are frequently associated with tropical drinks and Tiki bars and used as a garnish decoration. They are also used in desserts or other foods and beverages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiki mugs</span>

Tiki mugs are large ceramic cocktail drinking vessels that originated in tiki bars and tropical-themed restaurants. The term "tiki mug" is a blanket term for the sculptural drinkware even though they vary in size and most do not contain handles. They typically depict Polynesian, mock-Polynesian, tropical, nautical, or retro themes, and as the term is used generically do not always emulate a tiki. When used to serve drinks they are frequently garnished with fruit or decorative drink umbrellas and swizzle sticks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiki bar</span> Bar with a "Tiki" or Polynesian theme

A tiki bar is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails. Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their tiki culture décor which is based upon a romanticized conception of tropical cultures, most commonly Polynesian. Some bars also incorporate general nautical themes or retro elements from the early atomic age.

A Scorpion Bowl is a communally shared alcoholic tiki drink served in a large ceramic bowl traditionally decorated with wahine or hula-girl island scenes and meant to be drunk through long straws. Bowl shapes and decorations can vary considerably. Starting off as a single-serve drink known as the Scorpion cocktail, its immense popularity as a bowl drink in tiki culture is attributed to Trader Vic.

Harry K. Yee was an American bartender from Honolulu, Hawaii, who was credited with having helped to spread tiki culture during the mid-twentieth century, both in Hawaii and in the continental United States. He invented the Blue Hawaii cocktail, and is attributed with being the first bartender to use paper parasols and vanda orchids in tiki drinks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navy Grog</span>

The Navy Grog was a popular rum-based drink served for many years at the Polynesian-themed Don the Beachcomber restaurants; it is still served in many so-called tiki restaurants and bars. First created by Donn Beach, who almost single-handedly originated the tiki cultural fad of the 1940s and 1950s, it was one of dozens of rum concoctions that he, and later Trader Vic and numerous other imitators, sold in exotic tropical settings. Not quite as potent as the Beachcomber's more famous Zombie, it was, nevertheless, shown on the menu as being limited to two, or sometimes three, to a customer. Reportedly, Phil Spector consumed at least two Trader Vic’s Navy Grogs at the Beverly Hilton restaurant, without eating any food, the night he later killed actress Lana Clarkson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctor (cocktail)</span>

The doctor cocktail is a pre-prohibition era cocktail that traces in drink guides to as far back as 1917, when it appeared in Hugo R. Ensslin's Recipes for Mixed Drinks. As originally described the cocktail called simply for Swedish Punsch mixed with lime juice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suffering bastard</span> Type of cocktail

The suffering bastard is the name for two different mixed drinks, one being more of a standard cocktail associated with World War II and the other being more of an exotic drink associated with Tiki bars. As is the case with many cocktails, there are multiple recipe variations and historical origins have been argued and changed over time. Two of the earliest recipe versions have very different ingredients. One from bartender Joe Scialom (1942) calls for brandy and gin, while another from Tiki pioneer Victor J. Bergeron primarily uses rum along with "secret ingredients" and is known for being garnished with a cucumber.

The Q.B. Cooler is a vintage tiki cocktail invented by Donn Beach that calls for a mixture of several rums, two syrups, fruit juices, and honey, mixed with club soda and dashes of Pernod, bitters, and grenadine. Another version purported to be from 1937 is slightly different and calls for varying rum proportions and ginger syrup in place of the fassionola and Pernod.

The test pilot cocktail is a vintage tiki drink invented by Donn Beach. Beach was known for changing his recipes over time, and multiple versions of the test pilot attributed to both him and others make the cocktail one of his more frequently imitated and varied tiki drinks. Test pilot recipes call for multiple rums and typically include the use of falernum syrup and lime juice. The more popular also include Pernod (pastis/absinthe) and bitters.

The cobra's fang is a vintage tiki cocktail invented by Donn Beach that calls for a mixture of rums along with fassionola and falernum syrups, the juice of orange and limes, and a dash each of bitters and grenadine. The recipe from the book Hawai'i: Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine By Don the Beaschcomber calls for it being garnished with fresh mint and a lime wheel, although a length of spiral cut lime peel made to look like a snake is used for aesthetics in some cobra named cocktails.

The Fog Cutter is a vintage tiki cocktail frequently attributed to being invented by Victor Bergeron that calls for a mixture of several liquors, the juice of lemon and oranges, orgeat syrup, and cream sherry. It is high in alcoholic content and has been called the "Long Island Iced Tea of exotic drinks." It has historically been served in special Fog Cutter ceramic mugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Berry (mixologist)</span>

Jeff "Beachbum" Berry is an American restaurant owner, author, and historian of tiki culture, particularly the drinks associated with the tiki theme. In addition to researching and reconstructing lost recipes, he has invented and published his own cocktail recipes.

References

  1. ↑ "Trader Vic's". Life. 17 (10). September 4, 1944.
  2. ↑ Vic, Trader (1972). Trader Vic's Bartenders Guide, Revised (revised ed.). Garden City, NY: Doubleday (publisher). p. 167.
  3. ↑ Siegelman, Stephen (2005). Trader Vic's Tiki Party!: Cocktails and Food to Share with Friends. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press.
  4. ↑ Bergeron, Victor (1947). Bartender's Guide. New York: Garden City Books. p. 18.
  5. ↑ "Trader Vic's". Life. 17 (10). September 4, 1944.
  6. ↑ Peters, Erica (2013). San Francisco: A Food Biography. Lanhan, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
  7. ↑ "Trader Vic's". Life. 17 (10). September 4, 1944.
  8. ↑ Sinesky, Alice (September 16, 1986). "INTERVIEW WITH DONN BEACH" (PDF). The Watumull Foundation, Oral History Project.
  9. ↑ Bitner, Arnold (2001). Hawai'i Tropical Rum Drinks by Don the Beachcomber. Honolulu: Mutual Publishing. p. 46.
  10. ↑ Berry, Jeff (2010). Beachbum Berry Remixed. San Jose: Club Tiki Press. p. 69.
  11. ↑ "The Mai Tai 1944". lettersandliquor.com. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "The infamous Mai Tai Court Case". tikiroom.com. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "You deserve a Mai Tai". eater.com. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "Trader Vic's". Life. 17 (10). September 4, 1944.
  15. ↑ Bergeron, Victor (1947). Bartender's Guide. New York: Garden City Books. p. 18.
  16. ↑ "Trader Vic's PB2Y2 Gremlin Bowl". ooga-mooga.com. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.