Nuclear Fizz

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

(Bob Pavlat) The fannish mixed drink. "Here's what a Fizz is, and how it came about. It is: 1½ shot gin, 1 shot cointreau, 1 shot lemon or lime juice (and a lemon-lime mixture is better yet), 2 shots soda, 2 or 3 drops bitters. If you like them sweet, add more cointreau, and vary the amount of soda to suit your taste. "And here's how it came about. At the Philcon, Chick Derry and I (Bob Pavlat) were drinking with Tom Hadley of the Buffalo Book Company... we liked the looks of Hadley's drink, and ordered one from the bartender. Hadley gave the bartender the formula... the Nuclear Fizz formula. I don't know where Hadley got the drink, but fandom obtained it from Hadley. "As to its popularization: Derry and I remembered our drink (it was ours by right of discovery, if not invention)... shortly after the Cinvention, Boggs wrote that Kerkhof and I had saved his life at the con by dragging him into the bar and feeding him a drink. I don't remember whether he used the name Nuclear Fizz [yes -- ed.] but that's what it was, and if he did that was the first appearance of the name in the fan press. The occasion of the drinking was the first time any fan other than Derry or I had silped a Fizz, Boggs and Kerkhof being introduced to it simultaneously. "The drink was introduced to the rest of WSFA after our return from the Cinvention... and various WSFA members had a small Fizz party during the 1952 Philco." From this, and the propagandizing of WSFAns, the Nuclear Fizz spread over fandom. "Two final facts: as far as I can recall, the name Nuclear Fizz is my creation. Silping was the invention of Lee Jacobs, who perfected and named the art." -- Bob Pavlat in Spacewarp. Tho not a needful part of the drink, Karen Anderson's custom of putting vegetable coloring in it as a warning measure is well advised. Variations include vodka instead of gin, making a Nuclear Fuze; vodka and gin, a Nuclear Fuss.

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