Recipe

45ml vodka
120ml orange juice
15ml Galliano
Garnish: orange slice and maraschino cherry

Pour the vodka and orange juice into a collins glass with ice cubes. Layer the galliano on top by pouring over the back of bar spoon.

History

One is that it may have been created as an “all I got left in the bar” drink. Supposedly, the host of a party in the mid-60s had only vodka, orange juice, and Galliano available. After a couple of these drinks, a guest named Harvey was found to be banging his head against the wall and cursing the drink that caused him his misery.

That’s a fun story, but it’s not very believable. The accepted truth attributes the Harvey Wallbanger’s creation to Donato “Duke” Antone who owned Duke’s Backwatch Bar in Hollywood. It was at this Sunset Boulevard joint in 1952 that Antone created the cocktail. He named it after a local surfer and bar regular named Tom Harvey.