In Praise of the Cocktail

It's awards season here in Hollywood -- The Emmy Awards, People's Choice Awards and Golden Globes have already come and gone while we wait for the SAG awards and the daddy of them all, the Oscars. And Warner Bros. is right in the middle of it -- planning events, partnering with big names and always, always, finding the latest trends that translate from screen to party!

Of course the era and look of Mad Men is an inspiration for much of the events this season -- that ultra cool mid-century milieu that just makes you thirsty for a proper cocktail and hungry for Steak Diane. It's the type of living that just makes you feel glamorous, like this...

 Check out her champagne glass!

Sonia Aquino as Sophia Loren in the Life and Death of Peter Sellers

And as luck would have it, I came across a treasure trove of ideas from this period when I tuned into a Pink Panther marathon. I loved how everyone drank champagne from what is known as a "Continental" glass style, rather than flutes. Right then and there I vowed to use these glasses at my next event AND to bring back the REAL cocktail.

In doing my research for several upcoming events I found that the cocktails from the Sellers-Mad Men era were almost all booze. No wonder they used such small glasses! So I thought I'd share some of these retro cocktails with you; so very similar to the great events we produce at Warner Bros.--
cool and with a twist!

The Old Fashioned
 

1 orange slice 
1 maraschino cherry
1 teaspoon sugar
Few drops of Angostura bitters
A splash of soda water to muddle ingredients
2-1/2 ounces rye or bourbon
1. In a mixing glass, muddle orange slice, cherry, sugar, bitters, and a little soda water: push around and break up cherry and orange until flavor is released.
2. Add soda water so cherry is wet and sugar is melted. Add rye or bourbon and serve over rocks, if desired.

Recipe from the Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook

The Vesper

This drink originated in Ian Fleming's 1953 Casino Royale, named after Bond's femme fatale du jour.
Click here how James orders his Vesper!

1-1/2 ounces gin (Beefeater)
1-1/2 ounces vodka (Ketel One Citroen)
1/2 ounce Lillet Blonde
Approximately 1/3 ounce fresh lemon juice
Flamed orange twist, for garnish
1. Add gin, vodka, Lillet Blonde and lemon juice to ice in cocktail shaker.
2. Shake and serve straight up in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange twist.
Recipe from the Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook

The Manhattan

 Photo from the Fleming Files

2 ounces rye whiskey
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
2 -3 dashes Angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry, for garnish
1 Pour whiskey, vermouth and bitters into a mixing glass with ice cubes. Stir well.
2. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the cherry.

The Classic Champagne Cocktail

 Here is that glass I love again! Perfect for awards season.

1 sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters
Good champagne
Twist of lemon

Image from the Tipsy Texan ...
See his blog post for a step-by-step on this drink!

Tune in next week for some retro appetizers that perfectly accompany these drinks.

And, as I said in the first part of this post, it's awards season everywhere including the special events industry!

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