The Bushwacker, a delicious and surprisingly versatile frozen cocktail, was invented 50 years ago at The Ship’s Store at Sapphire Village Resort (now the Sudi’s Caribbean Bar and Grill) in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. According to Tom Brokamp, the bar’s manager at the time, the cocktail’s origin is tied to bartender, Angie Conigliaro. “She was constantly trying to come up with new drinks with the blender,” he recalls. “I was on a White Russian jag, and I suggested it, and she started playing around with it, and I made a couple of changes to the formulation.”
Nowadays, the Bushwacker is more rum-focused and can include floaters or toppers, but Brokamp said the drink’s original version incorporated vodka. The initial recipe also featured half parts of Kahlúa and dark creme de cacao, along with cream of coconut, milk, ice and a splash of triple sec, topped with freshly grated nutmeg.
Its moniker derives from the name of an Afghan hound belonging to a pair of flight attendants. Ut was Conigliaro who suggested applying it to the cocktail. “I gave her the go-ahead, and she promoted it because she was behind the bar all the time, and she is really the one who’s responsible for it,” says Brokamp, who is now retired and living in Virginia…