The five greatest cocktails in cinema history
When beer and wine won’t suffice, there’s always cocktails. That might be a saying, it might not be, but anyone who hasn’t had their arm twisted into sampling a multi-pronged assault on sobriety on at least a handful of occasions is missing out. Fortunately, movies have their ways of impacting the culture.
Whether it’s a hot summer’s day, a casual evening on the tiles, or those moments when another pint seems like the worst idea in the world, but the show must go on, cocktails serve many functions for many folks under a myriad of different circumstances.
It might be the name of Tom Cruise’s worst-ever movie, but the A-lister stinking up the joint with the dismal Cocktail did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm for the method of tossing countless ingredients together in the name of experimental alcohol-driven adventurism.
With a helping hand from cinema, several of them have taken on a new life that exists well beyond the night before and straight through the morning after, with the following five being the cream of the crop.
Cinema’s five greatest cocktails:
5. Singapore Sling (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Terry Gilliam, 1998)
Terry Gilliam’s anarchic adaptation of the anarchic novel from anarchic icon Hunter S. Thompson no doubt did wonders for the appeal of the deliciously fruity Singapore Sling, even if Raoul Duke put his own spin on the beverage.
Sitting on the patio of the Pogo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, ordering “mezcal on the side” is guaranteed to provide a serious kick after the refreshing libation typically made with gin, cherry liqueur, Cointreau, pineapple and lime juice, grenadine, and bitters.
Chasing it down with a little something extra may not come entirely recommended for anyone who doesn’t plan on having a crippling headache the next day, but it can’t be argued that those Singapore Slings look positively delicious when they’re planted in front of Johnny Depp.
4. Manhattan (Some Like It Hot, Billy Wilder, 1959)
Marilyn Monroe made many things iconic during her short-but-legendary career that saw her end up as one of Hollywood’s most timelessly popular stars, with the humble Manhattan just one of them.
Serving as the backdrop to a particularly memorable scene from Billy Wilder’s classic comedy, Monroe’s sugar cracks open a bottle of illicit bourbon before the discovery of some additional vermouth leads to the realisation that the ingredients are right there for a Manhattan to be assembled.
The drink might have its origins as far back as the late 19th century, but never has it looked more glamourous and seductive on-screen than when Monroe inadvertently became its single biggest and most important advertisement in years.
3. French 75 (Casablanca, Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Casablanca is a film that features its fair share of booze, but of all the gin-based cocktails in all the towns in all the world, it’s the French 75 that everybody wanted to order after catching the classic romance.
Named after an artillery gun, the libation’s origins in warfare aren’t quite reflected in how easily it goes down, with the combination of cognac, champagne, gin, citrus making it a simple but very effective party for the palate.
Rick Blaine and Isla Lund are one of cinema’s all-time great pairings, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman also having the distinction of transforming the World War I-era cocktail into a legendary beverage.
2. White Russian (The Big Lebowski, Coen brothers, 1998)
If there’s such a thing as the White Russian industry, then it shall remain forever grateful to The Big Lebowski for single-handedly turning it into one of the most recognisable cocktails on the planet.
The downside is that bartenders and mixologists the world over are probably sick and tired of hearing Dude-bros ordering the dairy-based concoction in their numbers and then probably dealing with the after-effects of Lebowski fans getting too carried away and not realising drinking too many of them will curdle the insides in real-time.
Still, what is The Dude without a White Russian? He’s just a middle-aged man in a dressing gown. An effortless cool one, but still, it’s intrinsic to who he is. The cocktail was hardly fashionable before The Big Lebowski came along, but it’s been a staple of the drinks menu everywhere ever since.
1. Vodka Martini (James Bond franchise, 1962-present)
It’s unproven, but probably illegal to list cinema’s most iconic cocktails without putting the granddaddy of them all at the very top, with James Bond becoming a multi-generational spokesman for martinis.
If everybody to have ever worked at a bar had a penny for every time they’d been asked for a martini shaken and not stirred, then there’d be no such thing as mounting debt and a cost of living crisis. That’s how embedded into the culture it’s become, with no 007 adventure complete without it.
Martini enthusiasts will scream from the rooftops that it’s among the worst way to imbibe the trusted cocktail, but people couldn’t give less of a shit when all they want to do is knock back Bond’s favoured tipple.
