A curved glass filled with bright pink (or blue, or orange...) fluid, garnished with little pieces of fruit and decorated with the all-important paper cocktail umbrella. This cocktail is associated with Pacific islands, especially
Hula and Luaus vacations. A tiki-themed tourist trap is not complete without a row of colorful rum-based cocktails, which are identifiable more by their decorations than by their contents, a visual shorthand for the type of drink one usually doesn't get at the local pub.
Fluffy the Terrible will sometimes apply; despite their widespread derision as "girly drinks" they are often very, very strong.
An umbrella cocktail will be the regular
Drink Order of a
Cloud Cuckoolander. See also
Gargle Blaster for the more potent drinks that get served with these little umbrellas.
Examples:
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Film
- In The Jerk, Navin is very partial to these. At one point during his millionaire period, he actually gets a machine that dispenses them.
- One of the few unambiguously funny scenes in Zodiac involves Robert Graysmith's (presumably accurate, he wrote the book) bizarre choice of drink (it's an aqua velva).
- Wayne's World: When meeting the network guy to discuss business over drinks, Wayne and network guy drink beer. Garth has something huge, bright blue and garnished with what looks like a whole pineapple.
- TRON: Legacy, of all things, manages to have this—inside the Grid, no less. The "umbrella" appears to be made out of glass and metal, fittingly enough.
- UHF - Weird Al is facing total failure with his new TV channel and goes to drown his sorrows at the bar with a big fancy umbrella drink. He didn't drink but decided it was a good time to start.
Live Action TV
- The Girl Drink Drunk from The Kids in the Hall only drinks umbrella drinks...to the point where he mixes one up while sitting with a fellow wino on a park bench.
- In an episode of The West Wing, John Larroquette's Large Ham character rants about how he's supposed to be on vacation, being brought drinks with "little UM-brellas in them."
- Del Boy has a fondness for these in Only Fools And Horses, being under the erroneous impression that they make him look sophisiticated.
Literature
- Ridcully warns people against these in Hogfather. Bilious, the (Oh) God of Hangovers, harbours a particular hatred for them.
- In Men at Arms, Detritus orders a "molten sulphur on coke with phosphoric acid", "with umbrella in it". Nobby's "Slow Comfortable Double Entendre with lemonade and a fruit salad in it" is also an example.
- Featured again in Thud!, when Cheery, Angua and Sally go on a girls' night out. Towards the end of the evening, Sally throws up a humorous umbrella.
Video Games
- In Kingdom of Loathing, the "cocktailcrafting" skill allows you to summon various garnishes to improve your beverages. One of them is a little paper umbrella.
- Most of the drinks made with this skill are deemed "Fruity girl drinks" by the game's Lemony Narrator. The rest, which require an additional skill, are labeled "Extra-fruity girl drinks". With an evil paper umbrella, you can mix "Evil fruity girl drinks".
- In The Curse Of Monkey Island, the umbrella is a plot point: You have to order a fruity drink with an umbrella in it. The bartender Goodsoup is out, so he'll give you a regular umbrella instead. Doubles as a parachute later.
Web Comics
Web Original
Western Animation
