“Disco drinks” of the 1970s and 1980s are having a moment, as foamy amaretto sours and blush Cosmos grace happy hour menus once again. Among these, another popular ’70s cocktail has endured, though it flies largely under the radar: the Harvey Wallbanger, which combines vodka, orange juice and the Italian liqueur Galliano.
At the Charcoal Chef in Woodbury, Connecticut, the Harvey Wallbanger has been a fixture of the menu’s long list of classic cocktails for decades, according to night manager Tony Stahl. Opened in 1956, the restaurant caters to diners who have been going there for most of their lives, so Stahl has seen mostly older customers order the cocktail throughout his 12 years at the restaurant. But now, more 20- and 30-year-olds are noticing it on the menu.
“They’re trying it to experience something they’ve never heard of before that used to be drunk all the time,” he says.
Unlike other cocktails that were popular in that era, such as the Old Fashioned or Moscow Mule, the Harvey Wallbanger doesn’t have long-standing familiarity across generations of drinkers. Galliano distribution didn’t support a sustained interest in the cocktail, and drinkers started to explore other flavors, according to Francesco Lafranconi, vice president of beverage and hospitality culture at Carver Road Hospitality.
Still, when creating an ’80s-themed menu for Tipsy Flamingo in Salt Lake City, Lafranconi knew he had to put a version of the Harvey Wallbanger on the menu as a defining cocktail of the time.
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This Article was originally published on Wine Enthusiast
