The Saturn was created by J. Popo Galsini in 1967 at the Kona Kai in Huntington Beach California. It was originally called the X-15, named after the hypersonic rocket operated by the Air Force and NASA as part of the X-Plane series of experimental aircraft introduced in 1959. Apparently the Kona Kai was a favorite watering hole for Douglas Aircraft engineers who designed the rocket, and Galsini befriended a few of them so made the cocktail as a tribute to their ingenuity. But in October 1967 the Rocket crashed killing pilot Michael Adams, this was the death of the X-Plane program (which rattled to a stop just a few months later in 1968) and Galsini decided to rename the cocktail The Saturn after the Saturn V Rocket which propelled the first Apollo flight in 1967. It was under the new name that Galsini entered the drink into the 1967 International Bartender’s Association World Championships and won. If it were not for the work of Jeff “Beachbum” Berry this cocktail and the knowledge that Galsini was one of the top tiki bartenders of his time would be lost, but luckily we have great historians like him now who record all this information for the rest of us to enjoy!
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Here’s Links to the tools I use in this episode:
Barfly Copper Measuring Cup
Barfly Shaking Set
Barfly Hawthorn Strainer
Bar Ice Scoop
Intoxica by Jeff Berry
Beach Bum Berry Remixed
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Saturn
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Gin
- .25 oz Velvet Falernum
- .5 oz Lemon Juice
- .5 oz Passionfruit Syrup
- .25 oz Orgeat
Garnish
- Lime Peel
- Maraschino Cherry
Instructions
- Add ingredients to Tin
- Add shaking ice
- Shake 8-10 seconds
- Strain into glass
- Add crushed ice
- Garnish with Lime Peel, Maraschino Cherry as the planet Saturn with a Cocktail Pick.
