A nutcracker is a type of cocktail consisting of a mixture of hard liquor and sugary beverages such as fruit juice. [1] Nutcrackers originated and are typically made and sold in New York City. [2] Originally sold via word-of-mouth by street vendors, nutcrackers have also been offered as "to-go cocktails" by establishments such as bars and restaurants. [3] [4]
Nutcrackers frequently consist of liquors such as vodka, rum, tequila and cognac, mixed with fruit juice, Kool-Aid or candy. They are sold mainly during the summer on the streets and on the beaches, and come in cups or small plastic bottles. [2] [1]
History
Nutcrackers are thought to have been first made in 1993 or 1994 in the Dominican areas of Washington Heights, specifically as a cocktail at the Flor de Mayo restaurant, which styles the drink as the "Nut Cracker", and claims to be the original version. [5] [6] The "Nut Cracker" cocktail was invented by José Chu, a restaurant manager, and "Juice", a drug dealer, who requested a new cocktail, and was named for The Nutcracker ballet, due to a New York City Ballet ad on TV at the time. [5] It consisted of Bacardi 151, Southern Comfort, Amaretto, pineapple juice, grenadine, and Rose's Sour Lime, and is described as strong, syrupy, sweet, and tart. [5]
From 1999, the cocktail was then bottled and sold for $10 each by "Fatyuil", a Dominican-American hairdresser, out of her apartment on St. Nicholas Avenue, and became popular. From 2000, it was further popularized by Freddy Tejada, who sold drinks out of a barbershop on Audubon Avenue, and featured the drink in a program on a Manhattan Neighborhood Network (public access television) program, Dominican USA. [5] It then became popular in Harlem and across the city. [2]
Legality
The sale of nutcrackers without a license violates New York law, and the police have on occasion attempted to sanction it. [1]
In 2010, black community leaders including Al Sharpton spoke out against the sale of nutcrackers because of the unregulated drinks' potential dangers to health and to children. In 2011, the "nutcracker bill" ( A06324) sponsored by State Senator Adriano Espaillat (D – Manhattan/Bronx) and Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D – Bronx) and signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo stripped barbershops of their license if they were convicted of selling alcohol to minors. [5] [7]
Some nutcracker vendors have attempted to professionalize and legalize their business in order to assuage such concerns. [2]
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting closure of dine-in bars and restaurants, and the newly-legal sale of alcohol to-go resulted in increased competition with traditional nutcracker sales; some to-go cocktails were sold in the same traditional juice bottle format as nutcrackers. [8]
Popular culture
Nutcrackers have been mentioned in popular culture since as early as Loaded Lux, "Nut Cracker" (2006), [9] and popularized in N.O.R.E., "Nutcracker" (2010). [5]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Zanoni, Carla (20 May 2011). "Cops Crack Down On Sale Of Alcoholic 'Nutcracker' Drinks". Huffington Post.
- ^ a b c d Randle, Aaron (17 August 2019). "Banned on the Beach? It's Still Nutcracker Summer". The New York Times.
- ^ Maurer, Daniel (29 May 2020). "Bars Are Now Selling NYC's Favorite Illicit Street Drink, Nutcracker". Bedford + Bowery.
- ^ Cherie, Ariel (2 June 2014). "5 Nutcracker Recipes for You to Try This Summer". The Urban Daily.
- ^ a b c d e f Herbert, David Gauvey (2019-06-13). "On the Trail of New York's Nutcracker Kings". Grub Street.
- ^ "Drinks Drinks Drinks..." (PDF). Flor de Mayo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-06.
- ^ Espaillat, Adriano (2011-08-19). "Gov. Cuomo Signs Sen. Espaillat's Bill to Crackdown on Dangerous "Nutcracker" Alcoholic Drink". New York State Senate (Press release).
- ^ Boyer-Dry, Margot (20 June 2020). "The Nutcracker Hustle: Why Selling Buried Cocktails Just Got Harder". The New York Times.
- ^ "Loaded Lux: Nut Cracker". YouTube.