Cocktail umbrella
for decorating drinks
A cocktail umbrella or paper parasol is a small umbrella made from paper, paperboard, and a toothpick. They are frequently associated with tropical drinks and Tiki bars and used as a garnish decoration. They are also used in desserts or other foods and beverages.
Description
The umbrella is fashioned out of paper, which can be patterned, with cardboard ribs. The ribs are made from cardboard in order to provide flexibility and to hinge so the umbrella can be pulled shut much like an ordinary umbrella. A small plastic retaining ring is often fashioned against the stem, a toothpick, in order to prevent the umbrella from folding up spontaneously. A sleeve of folded newspaper is located under the collar or base of the cocktail umbrella and is made out of recycled paper from either China, India or Japan. As a result, they indicate their country of origin.
Origin and history
It is not quite certain exactly when the cocktail umbrella came into use. One possible source is Donn Beach, owner of the Hollywood, California-based restaurant and bar chain Don the Beachcomber.
The public source identifies “Cocktail umbrella” as for decorating drinks. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cocktail, umbrella and decorating.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2776523. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cocktail umbrella” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.