Tag Archives: Films

Absinthe, Angostura Bitters, Cognac, Scotch Whisky, Simple Syrup, Spirits, Sugar

Kate’s Sazerac

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Even if ”The State of the Union” (1948) was neither Capra’s, Tracy’s nor Hepburn’s best work, it does stand out for at least two reasons: an excellent aeroplane chase (with a petrified, despairing Van Johnson and a knitting Kate Hepburn) and, in my humble opinion, one of the best cocktails known to man, even if that might be overstating it a tad – the Sazerac.

This cocktail has a long and winding history and lays claim to:

  • the oldest American cocktail,
  • the etymology of the word cocktail itself and
  • being the “official” cocktail of New Orleans

The first two are a bit disputed, but if it is true that “Antoine Amadie Peychaud, a Creole apothecary who moved to New Orleans from the West Indies and set up shop in the French Quarter in the early part of the 19th Century” [1] created the Sazerac then it should be the oldest; and if he did serve this drink in a coquetier, which was later Americanised to “cocktail”, then both claims are in fact true.

The Sazerac

  • Sugar (or simple syrup)
  • 2 oz rye whiskey (or cognac, originally)
  • 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • Absinthe rinse

Chill a rocks glass, give it an absinthe rinse using only a small amount of absinthe (or Herbsaint) band then discard the excess liquid. Stir all the ingredients except the absinthe over ice and strain into the absinthe-rinsed glass. Rub a lemon peel around the rim of the glass and discard. The drink does not get a garnish. [2]

[1] http://www.gumbopages.com/food/beverages/sazerac.html
[2] https://frontiermixology.wordpress.com/tag/state-of-the-union/

Cointreau, Egg-white, Gin, Lemon, Spirits

Hitch’s White Lady

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Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite cocktail, at least when visiting Harry’s Bar in Venice, was the White Lady; his treatment of ladies, and for that matter of actors in general was less gentlemanly. Tippi Hedren, who had starred in one of the director’s best known films ”The Birds” (1963) later commented:

”Hitchcock was more careful about how the birds were treated than he was about me. I was just there to be pecked.”

The White Lady

  • 1½ oz gin
  • ¾ oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 oz Cointreau
  • and 1 egg white shaken over ice [1]

If one listens to that song for long enough, one begins to have sympathies for the birds. Please make it stop.

[1] ”The Globe and Mail” – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/wine/orson-welles-alfred-hitchcock-and-the-four-best-gin-cocktails/article24909884/

Gin, Vermouth

Errol’s Martini Special

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Any list involving Hollywood and the consumption of alcohol is incomplete without the mention of a number of celebrities, and Errol Flynn certainly deserves to be on the shortlist.

A man who at 33 was able to consume a bottle of vodka a day and at the same time meet and woo his wife-to-be, the 19 year old daughter of an L.A. County Sheriff’s capt., and all this whilst standing trial for the statutory rape of two minors (he was acquitted by a jury of 9 women and 3 men), must, for better or for worse, be included (having been born in Hobart, Australia, his nickname The Tasmanian Devil seemed doubly apt).

Picking Mr. Flynn’s favourite drink is a daunting task, comparable to guessing which tooth of the buzz-saw hit the board first, as the possibilities are endless. His excursions to so many watering holes (as well as to those establishments which offer more exotic pleasures) are legendary: the Cuban Hotels National and Floridita (including meet-and-greets with Fidel), Hollywood’s Cocoanut Grove and Chasen’s, Jamaica’s Titchfield Hotel, and so on and on. The Cuban mixologist Fabio Delgado Fuentes created this cocktail in his honour: The Martini Special:

1½ oz gin (Hayman’s Old Tom Gin if available)
¾ oz vermouth (Carpano Antica Vermouth i available)
2 drops Orange Flower Water
Dash Verte de Fougerolles Absinthe Verte
Dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass. Twist Lemon Peel over glass and discard [1]

[1] This variation was supplied by Savoy Stomp and reduces the orange flower water from the original 1/6 oz. to a few drops – http://savoystomp.com/2009/03/18/martini-special-cocktail/

Ginger Beer, Lime, Vodka

George Smiley’s Moscow Mule

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John le Carré’s George Smiley is not much of a drinker, and when he does indulge, it most often will be a good glass of wine or single malt, or if pressured by courtesy to some guest, a sherry. Perhaps his long assignments in Germany left him with a taste for beer and the odd schnapps, but that too is unconfirmed.

The Moscow Mule, a cocktail in its own right, is sometimes associated with Smiley [1] by way of a play on words, since in ”Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (if you have not seen it, try the brilliant 1979 BBC mini-series starring Alec Guiness, not the disappointing 2011 remake), he is attempting to uncover a Russian mole within the Circus, the British Secret Service, someone passing documents to the class enemy, hence a “mule”.

  • ½ ounce lime juice
  • 2 ounces vodka
  • 4 to 6 ounces ginger beer (NOT ginger ale please)
  • thin cucumber slice to garnish

Squeeze the lime juice into a Collins glass (a copper Moscow Mule mug would be ideal but not easy to come by) and drop in the spent shell. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes, then pour in the vodka and fill with cold ginger beer. Garnish with a cucumber slice and serve with a stirring rod.

[1] See among others in the form of a trivia question between MI5 agents on a stakeout in first episode of the BBC series ”Spooks” (2002).

Grapefruit, Vodka

Tyne Daly’s Greyhound

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If you happen to be wondering about the attached still, it shows Ms. Daly as Maria Callas in ”Master Class” at the  Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway in 2011. It is a far cry from her ingenue beginnings as Kate in Dirty Harry’s ”The Enforcer” or IT nerd Dotty in ”Telefon” (1977). 

In view of her late burgeoning career, the Greyhound cocktail seems rather fitting, and there’s even a history to this drink: “The cocktails were made of vodka, sugar, and canned grapefruit juice — a greyhound. This cocktail was served at Greyhound’s popular restaurant chain that was located at bus terminals, called ‘Post House’.” (Harper’s Magazine, 1945)

  • 1 part Vodka
  • 3 parts grapefruit juice (pink would be perfect)
  • 1 grapefruit wedge

Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice cubes, add all the ingredients and garnish with a (pink) grapefruit.

Add a salt rim and you’ve got a Salty Dog.

Champagne, Lemon, Liquers, Triple Sec, Vodka

The Dorothy Parker Cocktail

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What can be written about Ms. Parker, a brilliantly gifted, caustically witty, non-conformist satirist, that hasn’t been said better by others, and most readers will presumably know her anyway, so let us narrow it down to the subject matter of this blog: film and drink.

Ms. Parker’s move to Hollywood in the mid-1930s triggered her second career as a screenwriter, with films such as ”A Star is Born” (1937) and an original screenplay for Hitchcock’s”Saboteur” (1942), and lasted until being blacklisted by the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), her 1.000+ page FBI file must make good reading.

Although Esquire and The New Yorker have listed  Whiskey Sour, Martinis or Manhattans as Ms. Parker’s favourite drinks, there is also a cocktail named after her worth mentioning: The Dorothy Parker.

  • 1½ Citrus Vodka
  • ½ Triple Sec
  • ¼ Chambord Liqueur
  • ½ freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • champagne (or sparkling wine) to top off

Shake all ingredients except champagne, strain into a sugar-rimmed cocktail glass and top off with champagne.

Some Dorothy Parker quotes to set the mood:

“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” 
(in reference to Benito Mussolini’s ”The Cardinal’s Mistress”.)

“Tell him I was too f**king busy– or vice versa.”

“I wish I could drink like a lady
I can take one or two at the most
Three and I’m under the table
Four and I’m under the host”_
(Dorothy Parker)

Trivia I: If you have ever caught an episode of ”Gilmore Girls” (2000-2007) then you might have noticed the Dorothy Parker tribute by the show’s creator Ms. Amy Sherman-Palladino by way of the production company’s name: “Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions”.

Besides Sylvia Plath’s “The Unabridged Journals”, Rory‘s reading list included “Complete Stories” and “The Portable Dorothy Parker”

Trivia II: The New York Distilling Company named one of their two flagship gins after her: The Dorothy Parker Gin [1] which has spawned a number of cocktails in her honour, see http://vinepair.com/wine-blog/9-inventive-gin-cocktails-inspired-by-the-legendary-dorothy-parker/ .

[1] New York Distilling Company –  http://www.nydistilling.com/spirits/

Gin, Vermouth

The Gibson

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When Bill Simpson (Gary Merrill) offers Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) a Gibson by stating, “Karen, you’re a Gibson girl.” during the famous birthday party sequence in the 1950 film “All About Eve”, he was simply describing “the cool, urban superiority of the Gibson” (Roger Angell, The New Yorker) over the taste of the suburban crowds of olive-chewers.

 Although the Gibson is a 100+ year-old drink pre-dating any film reference, it remains a classic alternative for the suave cosmopolitan, or those who would like to appear as such: from Roger (Cary Grant, “North by Northwest”), Frasier (“Frasier”, Ep: Dinner at Eight) and Philip Marlowe (“The Long Goodbye”) to Maxwell Smart (Don Adams, “Get Smart”, Ep: The Five-Forty-Eight) and Stan (“American Dad!”) with June Rosewood at her Hollywood mansion.

In recent years it also remains, with a number of other cocktails, a preferred order for some of the  “Mad Men” characters, see also “The ‘Mad Men’ Cocktail Guide” at http://goo.gl/Lyzf6m.

  • 2 oz Gin
  • ⅓ oz dry vermouth
  • garnish with a silver-skin onion

Stir well in a shaker with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, then garnish and serve.

Cognac

Tracy’s Stinger

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Mike: “Is that for me?”
Dexter: “It’s for Sam, you want one?”
Mike: “You know how I feel about my grandmother but I’d sell her for a drink.”
Dexter: “Uncle Willie’s in the pantry doing weird and wonderful things with healing waters. Tell him you’d like one of the same.”
Mike: “Can I ask for two?”
Dexter: “Keep going till you run out of grandmothers.”
Mike: “I’ll be drinking a long time.”

“High Society” (1956)

Although I was always rather partial to Miss Imbrie (Celeste Holm, or better yet: Ruth Hussey in “The Philadelphia Story” (1940)), this drink is certainly capable off toppling the Goddess off her pedestal:

  • 1 ¾ oz Cognac
  • ⅔ oz White crème de menthe

Pour in a mixing glass with ice, stir and strain into a cocktail glass. May also be served on rocks in a rocks glass.

Source: liquor.com

Wine

Bridget’s Chardonnay

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Bridget Jones certainly helped change the opinion of many “ABC” (Anything But Chardonnay) drinkers who usually preferred Chablis or Mersault … both of which by the way are made with Chardonnay grapes. Tsk. Tsk.

Chardonnay: “a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine, originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand.” (Wikipedia)

Cognac, Liquers

The French Connection

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Another drink which shares it’s name but not it’s origin, with a well-known film. The Name “French Connection” is possibly due to the fact that the cognac originates in France, the amaretto in Italy … but do we care all that much?

  • 2 oz cognac
  • 1 oz amaretto almond liqueur
  • 1 lime or lemon zest (scrape of the outer peel for flavouring)

Stir both with ice in mixing glass, strain into ice filled serving glass and garnish with lime or lemon zest.

Source: drinksmixer.com

Orange, Schnapps, Vodka

The Hallowtini

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The Hallowtini, inspired by the 1978 classic “Halloween”
… and just as campily perfect for the season:

  • 1 ½ oz Belvedere Intense
  • splash of orange juice
  • 1 oz Butterscotch schnapps
  • garnish with candy corn

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and top off with candy corn garnish.

Gin, Lemon, Sugar Syrup, Water (carbonated)

Stanley’s Tom Collins

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Poor old dad, the “Father of the Bride” (1950), preparing gallons of Martinis in expectation of his guests’ wishes at his daughter’s wedding announcement, spends the evening mixing every and all drinks but Martinis, among many: Old Fashioneds, Bourbon & Sodas, Mint Juleps, Tom Collins’, Rum & Cokes, and straight up Scotches. Let’s pick on one:

  • 1½ oz Gin
  • 1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 oz carbonated water
  • ½ sugar syrup

Mix the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup in a tall glass with ice, top up with soda water, garnish and serve.

Source: drinksmixer.com

Coconut Water, Rum

The Rum Coco

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T. Lawrence Shannon: “What did you think we were doing out there, Miss Fellowes? Spawning?”
Judith Fellowes: “Oh, you beast. You beast!”

“The Night of the Iguana” (1964)

If you should require any assistance spawning, you might try …

  • 2 ounces amber rum
  • 3 or 4 ounces young-coconut water (not coconut milk please!)

Pour rum and coconut water over ice and serve.

Found at: theglobeandmail.com
Source: David Wondrich at esquire.com

Bourbom

Fast Eddie’s J.T.S. Brown Bourbon

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Sarah Packard: “I’m a college girl. Two days a week – Tuesdays and Thursdays – I go to college.”
Fast Eddie: “You don’t look like a college girl.”
Sarah Packard: “I’m the emancipated type. Real emancipated.”
Fast Eddie: “No, I didn’t mean that… whatever that means. I mean you just don’t look young enough.”
Sarah Packard: “I’m not.”
Fast Eddie: “So why go to college?”
Sarah Packard: “Got nothing else to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
Fast Eddie: “What do you do on the other days?”
Sarah Packard: “I drink.”

“The Hustler” (1961)

If you’re serious about drinking, you’ll opt for the 100 U.S. proof bond, beginners have the choice of an 80 proof to get them started.

The Recipe:
Really? Were you truly expecting a recipe?!

7-Up, Grenadine, Icewine, Liquers, Orange, Pineapple, Rum, Triple Sec, Vodka

The Psycho

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Although all are inspired by the 1960 Hitchcock classic “Psycho”, this is one of the many cocktails which means different things to different people:

1) The Classic Psycho

  • 1 oz pineapple juice
  • 1 oz orange juice
  • ½ oz Bacardi white rum
  • ¼ oz Grenadine syrup
  • ¼ oz Galliano Herbal Liqueur

Mix well in a shaker, strain into a cocktail or low-ball glass and garnish with a pineapple chunk, orange slice and maraschino cherry.

2) The Icewine-Psycho

“I was inspired by the movie’s sweet and sour moments, as Mr. Bates seems to be a sweet charming man but is actually quite spooky and dangerous.” Karin Stanley, co-owner of New York cocktail lounge Dutch Kills.

  • 2 oz. Inniskillin Riesling Icewine
  • 1 oz. Appleton Estate Reserve Rum
  • ¾ oz. pineapple juice

Combine all ingredients in a high-ball glass, fill with crushed or cracked ice and top with a float of Angostura Bitters.

3) The Raving Psycho

  • ½ oz. Triple Sec
  • 1 oz. Vodka
  • 5 oz. 7-Up
  • 1 oz. Lemon Juice

Mix and serve over ice in a low-ball glass.

Lemon, Liquers, Vodka

The Blue Lagoon

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  • 1 oz vodka
  • 1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
  • lemonade to taste
  • garnish with a cherry

Another drink which precedes “The Blue Lagoon” film, both the 1980 and the 1949 version, it’s attributed to any number of people, from Andy MacElhone to Paul Gauguin.

Brandy, Grenadine, Liquers, Orange, Vermouth

The Greta Garbo

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Not the pre-code 1930 film “Anna Christie” (“Gimme a visky with chincher ale and don’t be stinchy, baby.”), but a more exotic notion gave birth to this drink:

  • 1 oz brandy
  • 1 oz dry vermouth
  • 1 oz orange juice
  • 1/4 oz grenadine
  • dash of crème de menthe

Shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled high-ball glass.

On YouTube:“Anna Christie” (1930) ordering her drink in sleazy speakeasy. Sleazy yes, but one still had to ring the bell to get in :-).
https://youtu.be/_8Rvqm5XR7E

Cognac, Lemon, Liquers

The Sidecar

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The Sidecar, listed by the International Bartenders Association in the “unforgettables” column, has it’s origin sometime between the End of World War I and the beginning of the roaring 20ies; the Paris Ritz has staked claims, it’s first found mentioned in 1922 and since then appearing in innumerable films, the latest probably being “The Bonfire of the Vanities” (1990):

  • 2 oz Cognac
  • 3/4 oz Lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz Triple sec

Pour all into cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake and strain into cocktail glass.

Chai Tea, Liquers, Rum

The Killer Coco Chai

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At least as unsettling as Javier Bardem‘s portrayal of Anton Chigurh in “No Country for Old Men” (2007), is this rum-based tea and white chocolate cocktail which was created in honour of this film:

  • 1 oz Malibu Rum
  • 2 oz chai tea
  • 1 oz white chocolate liqueur
  • garnish with a raspberry

Allow tea to cool, combine the rum and liqueur in a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake well, strain into a chilled champagne glass and garnish with a raspberry. Explore at your own risk.

Brandy, Egg-Yolk, Powdered Sugar

The Mae West

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Although her advice in “Every Day’s a Holiday” (1937) was: “You should get out of those wet clothes and into a Dry Martini.”, the drink by her name is a bit more spirited:

  • 3 – 4 oz brandy
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp powdered sugar

Add ice cubes and shake robustly to completely blend the yolk … and sprinkle with cayenne pepper in honour of the ravishing Mae.

Recalling her various famous quotes, it’s often difficult to believe how these got by the Hays Office, especially since many were much more than suggestive, they had passed innuendo last Tuesday. A few samples: https://youtu.be/FJS670okmZc

Lager, Tomato

The Red Eye

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  • 12 oz lager
  • 6 oz tomato juice
  • 1 egg

Of “Cocktail” (1988) fame, the Red-Eye is more of an antidote than a cocktail, but so what? Pour ice-cold tomato juice into a frosted mug, add cold beer but do not stir. Crack an egg into the mug, and again: do not stir!

Ginger Ale, Grenadine, Orange

The Shirley Temple

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  • 6 – 8 oz ginger ale
  • 2 oz orange juice
  • dash of grenadine

First poured at Chasen’s restaurant in Beverly Hills, it is usually served in a long glass with ice and garnished with a cherry and a slice of orange or lemon. If alcohol is required, as it should be, then one might try a Shirley Temple Black (7-Up, kahlua and grenadine), Black being the name of her later husband, or perhaps a Dirty Shirley (lemon-lime soda, vodka and grenadine) will do.

Single malt

Bob’s Suntory Whisky

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Sofia Coppola‘s eclectic “Lost in Translation” (2003), filmed in 27 days on a $4 million budget and grossing $120 million worldwide, shows what a Hakushu, Hibiki, or Yamazaki single malt whisky is capable of … well, perhaps Mr Murray and Ms Johansson also contributed somehow.

Gin, Vodka

The Vesper Martini

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The beloved catchphrase “shaken not stirred” can first be found in Ian Fleming’s  novel “Diamonds are Forever” (1956), but surprisingly, the first to speak it in a Bond film is Dr No in the film by the same name in 1962. The first time Bond places this order himself can be admired in “Goldfinger” (1964).

But since Bond’s tastes have changed over the years …

“Goldfinger” (1964):
Mei-Lei: “Can I do anything for you, Mr. Bond?”
James Bond: “Uh, just a drink. A Martini, shaken, not stirred.”

“Casino Royale” (2006):
Bond: [after Bond has just lost 10 million in the game] “Vodka-martini.”
Bartender: “Shaken or stirred?”
Bond: “Do I look like I give a damn?”

“Quantum of Solace” (2008):
Bond: “I don’t know. What am I drinking?”
Flight bartender: “Three measures of Gordon’s Gin, One of Vodka, Half a measure of Kina…”
Mathis: Kina Lillet.”
Flight bartender: “Kina Lillet, which is not Vermouth. Shaken well until it is ice cold. and served with a large, thin slice of lemon peel. Six of them.”

… the Martini named after Vesper Lynd (“Casino Royale”) seemingly represents the Bond taste better than the classic Martini:

  • 1 oz Vodka
  • 3 oz Gin
  • 1/2 oz Lillet Blonde
  • garnish with lemon peel

“Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?” (from the novel “Casino Royale”, Chapter 7).

Lemon, Pomegranate, Rum

Benjamin’s Age Reverser

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To honour 13 nominations and three wins at the 81st Academy Awards for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008), 10 Cane Rum created this cocktail:

  • 2 oz. 10 Cane Rum
  • 1 oz. pomegranate juice
  • 3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • dash of syrup
  • garnish with pomegranate seeds or lemon twist

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass on ice, shake, strain into Martini glass and garnish with pomegranate seeds or lemon twist.

Rum, Vodka

The T-Virus

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Regardless of whether you are looking for the T-Virus as your contagion of choice, or you are in need of its antidote, which most probably depends on which might get you a rendezvous with the ravishing Alice, a.k.a. Milla Jovovich, of “Resident Evil” (2002) fame, these recipes are the way to go:

The T-Virus

  • ¾ shot Silver Rum
  • ¼ shot Everclear
  • 1 Blue Twizzler  

Wind the blue Twizzler around the inside of a tall double shot glass, pour in the silver rum and top with the Everclear.

The T-Virus Antidote

  • ¾ shot Silver Rum
  • ¼ shot Watermelon Vodka
  • 1 Green Twizzler  

(same preparation instructions as above)

Cognac, Cointreau, Lemon, Rum

Maggie Smith’s “Between the Sheets”

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Known by most today for her roles as Violet Crawley in ”Downton Abbey” [2010-15] or Minerva McGonagall in the ”Harry Potter” franchise, one forgets that Maggie Smith had a distinguished, even illustrious career before being typecast as elderly dowager or schoolmarm, raking in two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes along the way.

”The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969) established her as a serious actress and a number of comedies such as ”Murder by Death ” (1976) and ”California Suite” (1978) as well as star-vehicles à la Agatha Christie’s [”Death on the Nile” (1978) and ”Evil Under the Sun” (1982) kept her in the public eye, but her best work seemed to go mostly unnoticed: ”Travels With My Aunt” (1972), ”A Room With a View” (1985). ”Gosford Park” (2001), ”Ladies in Lavender”(2004) and more.

The Between the Sheets Cocktail, the drink Maggie Smith offers Peter Ustinov (a.k.a. Hercule Poirot) in ”Evil Under the Sun” (1982) dates back to 1930s Paris, either a Harry MacElhone(Harry’s New York Bar) creation or the apéritif du jour for working girls in French brothels; either way …

  • 1 oz. white rum
  • 1 oz. Cointreau
  • 1/2 oz. lemon juice
  • 1 oz. cognac
  • cocktail glass

Shake rum, Cointreau, juice, and cognac well with cracked ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a twist of lemon.