Drinks From Film And Fiction

Originally published on www.thedrinkoftheday.com

Every year on New Year’s Eve my family gets together for a themed dinner party. There are twelve courses served on the half-hour starting at 6 pm and ending at midnight. There are usually half a dozen cooks, backed up by sous chefs, dishwashers, and even a curated playlist to keep us boogying. Past year’s themes have included “A New Take On Something Old”, “Places You’ve Been Or Want To Go”, “Crayola”, and “No Cutlery Allowed”. This year our theme was “Food From Film And Fiction”.

I think I can speak for my whole family when I say this is our favourite meal of the year. We usually start discussing themes in the fall, and some of us start planning and experimenting with dishes a couple of months before the big night. We take our food seriously but it is always seriously fun.

No matter what the theme has been there has always been plenty of beverages to go along with the food, sometimes they’re themed and sometimes just thirst-quenching. As the appointed family bartender I am often charged with inventing some cocktails and mocktails for the gatherings and this year was no different… except that I may have gotten a wee bit carried away. The menu I came up with had 9 cocktail courses (some courses had multiple drinks) and 5 mocktails. There was some serious eating and carrying on to do so I didn’t make it through them all that night. I did do my best to make amends over the next few days though.

Here are my interpretations of some famous beverages from film and fiction.

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

Singapore Sling with Mescal and beer chasers.

It was hard to narrow my choice down to just one drink from Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas so I chose the hotel scene in the movie adaptation where Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo are drinking Singapore Slings with Mezcal and beer chasers.

Harry Potter

Butterbeer

I’m sure the children would have preferred that I make the non-alcoholic syrupy slush version of Butterbeer that pops up at fairs and festivals but I decided to go for something more authentic. This a Tudor recipe from 1588 for Hot Buttered Beer which may or may not have been J. K. Rowling’s inspiration for the Butterbeer in the Harry Potter series.

Ian Rankin’s Detective Rebus series

IPA and crisps

Detective John Rebus is often found at the pub drinking IPA with a packet of crisps on the side. I didn’t have time to brew beer so I bought some Wells IPA and made the crisps from scratch.

Many Martinis

White Angel, Vesper Martini, Breakfast Of Champions, Webster’s F-Street Layaway Plan

There are so many martinis I could have chosen but managed to narrow it down to four. A White Angel from Breakfast At Tiffany’s (vodka, gin, and definitely no Vermouth), a Vesper Martini from Casino Royale (replacing the no longer produced Kina Lillet with Lillet Blanc), a Webster’s F-Street Layaway Plan (a martini made with Chartreuse instead of Vermouth) from John Steinbeck’s Sweet Thursday, and a Breakfast of Champions from Kurt Vonnegut’s book of the same name, in which I could find no description so I made my favourite, a classic gin martini with a ton of olives.

Pulp Fiction

Five Dollar Milkshake

A Five Dollar Milkshake is my one non-alcoholic drink for this series. John Travolta isn’t sure if it’s worth five dollars but it’s pretty effing good.

The Big Lebowski

Caucasian

A classic White Russian takes the name of Caucasian in The Big Lebowski. I made this version with full cream instead of milk powder like The Dude is forced to do in one scene.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Glögg

Glögg is a traditional Swedish drink mentioned in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Usually served in small glasses with pepparkakor (so much more fun to say than ginger snaps) at Christmas get togethers.

The Great Gatsby

Mint Julep

“Open the whisky, Tom,’ she ordered, ‘and I’ll make you a mint julep. Then you won’t seem so stupid to yourself… Look at the mint!” says Daisy Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. My name is not Tom but I complied.

The Shining

Advocaat

By combining Advocaat from the scene where Jack Nicholson gets it spilled on him, with Redrum which is not rum at all but I went there anyway, I came up with a custom Shining Advocaat. I made Advocaat from scratch and replaced the usual cognac or brandy base with three different kinds of rum.