Blue Hawaii bartender celebrates turning 100

Harry Yee, who created the renowned Blue Hawaii cocktail at Hawaiian Village in the 1950s, turns 100 on Wednesday .

Harry’s Blue Hawaii put the aloha state on the map. Not only did he invent the Blue Hawaii, he’s also credited with creating a host of other popular tropical drinks, including the Tropical Itch, the Hawaiian Eye, the Hawaiian Cooler, the Guava Lada, the Hot Buttered Okolehao, the Hukilau, the Catamaran, the Diamond Head, the Hawaiian Village Sunset and the Banana Daiquiri.

Yee, who is known nationwide for his contributions to mixology and the midcentury American tiki movement, also was the first bartender to ever top a drink with an orchid or an umbrella.

Yee was born in 1918 — the same year that President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order putting prohibition in effect on Oahu at the request of the War Department, which considered the island to be of strategic military importance. He also is a celebrated non-drinker and only became a bartender at David’s Cafe, a Kalihi establishment owned by one of his relatives, because of job scarcity. He said jobs were few and far between after he returned to Hawaii from China, where he had been part of Chiang Kai-shek’s air force defending China’s nationalist government against Japan.

“I joined because I was young and I wanted to travel. But the best day of my life was coming back to Hawaii after World War II to enjoy all that has happened since then,” Yee said during an interview with the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser on the grounds of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where he served as head bartender for more than 30 years. “I found that I really loved being a ­bartender.”

Yee, who would only taste the drinks he made, learned to please customers by watching their expressions. He knew he had a hit if the glasses came back empty and that he needed to tweak it if a drink came back half full.

Eventually, he was recruited by Trader Vic’s, which was formerly at the intersection of Ward Avenue and King Street. There, he met Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, who were on a Hawaii stopover during their honeymoon. At Trader Vic’s, Yee said he developed a fascination for the versatility of rum — the establishment was known for stocking varieties from all over the globe.

From there, he went to Henry J. Kaiser’s Hawaiian Village, the forerunner to the current Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Back then the property was made up of cottages instead of skyscrapers and mostly filled with elite guests.

“The war had just ended and there were lots of government officials and manufacturers from Asian countries passing through on their way to the U.S. mainland or stopping on their way back,” Yee said. “We were busy in those days and Mr. Kaiser kept building bars.”

Local entertainers like the late Alfred Apaka became national celebrities in their own right as they entertained the high muckety-mucks that frequented the Hawaiian Village’s entertainment venues. The resort was a playground for Hollywood celebrities such Joan Crawford, who would entertain from private bars in their rooms, Yee recalled.

“She didn’t drink. She was married to the chairman of the Pepsi-Cola Company. But we did make drinks for the press,” he said.

Most of the drinks served were classic bar standards, but Yee ushered in a new Hawaii era when he began using the skills he learned at Trader Vic’s tiki-themed bars to develop tropical drinks for Hawaiian Village tourists to enjoy.

“I wanted to give them something exotic and different from what they were used to having,” he said. “My best memory from this time is meeting all the different people and enjoying ‘talking story’ about all the old days.”

What Yee doesn’t like is to talk about himself — that’s why he’s refused most of the interview requests coming from far and wide as his centennial approaches. His memory is still good, but like most of his contemporaries who were born and raised on Oahu, some of his major life themes are humbleness and respect for others.

That may be why he said he didn’t remember the exact inspiration for his most well-known drink, the Blue Hawaii, made of vodka, light Puerto Rican rum, Bols Liqueur Blue Curacao, sweet and sour mix and fresh pineapple juice.

When pressed, he shrugged his shoulders and said that the drink’s development was requested by a Bols representative, who wanted Yee to create a drink using their blue curacao. He said he couldn’t confirm the legend that he held every Blue Hawaii up to ensure it was the color of the Pacific Ocean before serving it. But he did remember that the creative impulse for the drink’s name, which is a nod to its blue color and the Pacific Ocean, might have been inspired by the song “Blue Hawaii,” sung by Bing Crosby in the 1937 movie “Waikiki Wedding.”

At this stage in his life, those details just aren’t that critical to Yee. At nearly 100 years old, he’d much rather share his recipe for a happy life.

“I take each day as it comes and enjoy,” he said. “Eat healthy and everything in moderation. Respect to everyone… family, parents, children.”