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Many of the world’s most popular cocktails are named for the destinations that inspired them, like the Manhattan, Singapore Sling, and Moscow Mule. With decades of history to draw upon, bartenders and beverage pros are able to concoct beverages that not only taste great, but also represent some of the most famous locations on the planet.
Just look to California. The Golden State is home to movie stars, endless shorelines, and world-class bars and restaurants. Naturally, it’s going to inspire plenty of good drinks. And with its sunshine and climate, California cocktails often lean fruit-forward and refreshing, perfect for sipping outdoors.
Below are five California cocktails curated by My Top Sportsbooks, home of online betting in California. Give these drinks a try, and you’ll soon be relaxing California-style, even if you happen to be thousands of miles away.
Mai Tai
This classic cocktail is usually associated with Hawaii, but it was actually created in Oakland, California. As with many classic cocktails, the exact origins are a bit murky — it probably hails from Trader Vic’s circa the 1940s, but Don the Beachcomber served a similar drink a decade prior. Either way, it’s a Golden State favorite.
The Mai Tai is thought to come from the Tahitian word “maita’i”, which means good or excellence. That seems right for a drink that blends rum with orange curacao, orgeat, and fresh lime juice.
Tequila Sunrise
Some reports peg the ’70s-era Tequila Sunrise to a San Francisco bar, concocted by a barkeep who was still awake as the sun came up. But it’s more likely this drink actually hails from Mexico — or possibly Arizona. That hasn’t stopped it from proliferating through California bars, as the look and name of this cocktail just screams West Coast.
At its worst, the Tequila Sunrise is a pretty terrible cocktail, featuring stale orange juice and bright-red, preservative-laden grenadine. But at its best, made with good tequila, fresh OJ, and real pomegranate grenadine, it’s a refreshing drink that deserves a place in your glass. That weighty grenadine sinks to the bottom of the glass to create the trademark layered look. Fun fact: The Rolling Stones’ 1972 tour was dubbed the “Cocaine and Tequila Sunrise Tour,” which helped to catapult the drink’s popularity around the U.S.
Appletini
If you have watched any of the most popular sitcoms of the last 20 years, then you’ve seen the Appletini on screen. The characters in Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and a whole host of others have given new life to this 1990s creation. But its origin story is all-California. The first Appletini was created at Lola’s, a restaurant in West Hollywood.
The Appletini (or Apple Martini) is one of a collection of drinks that uses the “tini” suffix to good effect. With just vodka, apple juice, and sour apple schnapps, the Appletini is sweet, tart, and green — recognizable from across the bar or on your TV screen.
Zombie
The story goes that the legendary Hollywood bartender Donn Beach came up with the original Zombie to help a hungover customer get through a day of business meetings. Whatever the initial plan, this boozy concoction probably had an adverse effect, rendering the patron feeling like a zombie.
The Zombie recipe calls for dark rum, gold rum and 151-proof rum, so you’re off to a high-octane start. From there, it enlists falernum, Donn’s mix (cinnamon, sugar, and grapefruit), grenadine, and Pernod. There’s a lot going on here, both in flavor and texture, so it’s worth taking the effort to make this Tiki classic.
Harvey Wallbanger
Sometimes a classic cocktail doesn’t have to be extravagant at all. A variant of the screwdriver, which simply mixes orange juice and vodka, the Harvey Wallbanger adds the sweet, herbal liqueur Galliano into the glass and is poured over ice for a refreshing alternative.
The Harvey Walbanger’s origin isn’t perfectly clear, but it was possibly invented by Donato “Duke” Antone, who ran a Hollywood bar called Duke’s Blackwatch Bar. As the story goes, the cocktail was invented to push sales of Galliano in the 1970s, featuring a surfer in its very popular adverts. The Harvey Wallbanger has, ever since, invoked a Golden State mood.
