Good Bye grey skies, hello blue…
Today history lovers, we are celebrating the first airing of the TV show Happy Days, on 15 January 1974, with a lovely cocktail, called appropriately enough, Happy Days.
But before we get to that, just a little explanation. I originally shared this post way back in 2016. However, due to some gremlins in the machine, it ended up back in my drafts file. Over the Christmas break, I started working on an index page for this blog. In doing so, I was horrified to see how much content I had that was unavailable.
Oh, and the index is coming. It is much harder to do than I thought it would be!
One of my aims for 2025 is to bring this content back. So, apologies if this looks and feels familiar (and equally, congrats on your amazing memory!) For everyone else, I thought the 51st anniversary of the first airing of Happy Days would be a great time to bring back this post!
Happy Days – The Show
Happy Days” centers around Richie Cunningham, portrayed by Ron Howard. The sitcom follows the Cunningham family, their upstairs tenant Arthur Fonzarelli (aka The Fonz) – the coolest guy in town – and Richie’s less-cool friends, Ralph Malph and Potsie. The series ran for a decade, concluding in September 1984.
During my childhood, “Happy Days” was a constant presence. As one of my favourite after-school shows, it seemed to be on television endlessly. Set in the 1950s and 1960s, “Happy Days,” along with “Gilligan’s Island,” likely contributed to my enduring fondness for the fashion of those eras. Moreover, the series launched the careers of many actors, including Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, propelling them to stardom.
Happy Days – The Cocktail
The Happy Days Cocktail is a mix of equal parts peach schnapps, vodka, grapefruit juice and pineapple juice. And it’s delicious!!! The grapefruit juice makes it by bringing an almost florally citrus scent and taste. Its bitterness also helps to tamp down the sweetness of the peach and pineapple to stop the Happy Days from being too cloying.
It also smells amazing! Like a summer fruit basket!!!
This is so good! I garnished it with some pineapple and a maraschino cherry – because how could you not be happy with one of them in your drink! I also added a little twist of the grapefruit rind just to ramp up the citrussy bitterness a tad. 
And the verdict:
Happy Days
A refreshing not too sweet cocktail with some lovely fruity flavours
Ingredients
- 1 oz vodka
- 1 oz peach schnapps
- 1 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz grapefruit juice
- Ice
- Pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry, grapefruit rind twist to garnish (all optional)
Instructions
- Chill a cocktail glass.
- Stir the vodka, peach schnapps and juices over ice.
- Add some ice cubes to the chilled cocktail glass.
- Strain the liquid into the glass.
- Garnish with the cherry and pineapple, twist a piece of the grapefruit rind over the glass to release some of the essential oils and serve immediately
Have a week full of happy days!
