Lights Camera Action & Cheers!!!

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."

Rick Blaine, Casablanca (1942)

These legendary lines clearly exemplify the Hollywood’s romance with alcohol. So let us revisit my top #5 Hollywood alcohol moments.

5. Euro Trip (2004) – Absinthe

Who can forget this inane comedy about a guy who is dumped by his girlfriend, and decides to embark on an overseas adventure in Europe. Along the way they visit a club serving Absinthe or the Green Fairy, is an emerald green colored anise flavored liqueur. It is known to be a psychoactive hallucinogen and its effects are hilarious in the movie. Though it was banned in the US till 2007 it is now freely available around the world. So grab your shots and watch the movie if you are looking for some laughs.

4. Cocktail (1988) - Red Eye

Who hasn’t woken up after a party with a hangover? But don’t worry, the answer to your headache is a Red Eye, a heady combination of Vodka, Lager Beer, Tomato Juice and Egg. It is a sure shot cure of hangovers shown in the movie when Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) walks in to ask for a bar-tending job, Doug Coughlin is mixing up a Red-Eye. 

Recipe

1 oz vodka
6 oz tomato juice
1 can of beer
1 raw egg

Take a tall frosty mug, pour the vodka and tomato juice in it. Then pour in the beer, crack the egg into it. Do not stir and drink your hangovers away

3. Sex and the City (2008) – Cosmopolitan

 

This is for all the single ladies in the house, please put your hands up for Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) favorite tipple - The Cosmopolitan, a 1970’s creation made famous by the characters of Sex and the City, is a cocktail made with vodka, cranberry juice and triple sec with a dash of fresh sweetened lime juice. 

Recipe 

1 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Triple Sec
1/2 oz Lime Juice

1/2 oz Cranberry Juice

Shake vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve. 

2. Casablanca (1942) - French 75

 

Numerous cocktails fill the days and nights of Casablanca. Centered around a bar called Rick’s, the characters in this love story swill regularly. However, no drinks are as interesting as the French 75's are  ordered by the German officers before the establishment was shut down on the startling discovery of gambling on the premises. A bulldog of a cocktail, it gets its name from the 75-millimeter M1897, a light but gnarly gun that became the mainstay of the French field artillery in World War I. More than two of these delights and you’ll be kicking down your ex-girlfriend’s door. So enjoy responsibly!!

Recipe
2 oz London dry gin/cognac
1.5 oz of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
5 oz of chilled champagne
1 tsp. superfine sugar
1/2 oz lemon juice

Shake with ice, except the champagne, in a chilled cocktail shaker. Pour into a Collins glass half full of ice and top off with champagne.

1. Casino Royale (2006) - Vesper

 

So the other day I happen to catch the new Bond movie – Skyfall. Boy oh boy was it a treat to watch.  It takes us to dark origins of James Bond and shows us that the character is not all about suave and panache. The 23^rd Bond film in my view is one of the finest maybe challenged only by Casino Royale. The scene in Casino Royale where Bond orders his Martini with immaculate precision is a real treat to a bar enthusiast like me and therefore it is my #1 alcohol movie moment. The drink is named Vesper after Bond’s love interest – Vesper Lynd.

Recipe 

3 measures of Gordon's Gin

1 measure of Vodka

1/2 measure Kina Lillet

Lemon peel for garnish

Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, and then add a large thin slice of lemon peel.

So those were my favorite Hollywood alcohol moments, I hope you enjoyed them. Feel free to share some of your memorable celluloid moments involving booze. Cheers!!!

Next up: How to cure a Hangover?