Cinematic Cocktails

Mondays on the BottleBlog will feature a cocktail recipe that is sure to be just the thing to get you through the rest of the work week. Though we don't expect you'll bring in all the fixins into your place of employment, we hope you'll try our recipes responsibly at home! Today we keep with the pop culture theme by looking at famous cocktails in movies.

Perhaps the most famous cocktail in all of cinema is James Bond's martini: "Shaken, not stirred." This well-known line was first spoken by actor Dr. No in the film of the same name in 1962. Bond himself, however, didn't say the words until Goldfinger in 1964. It was said in nearly every Bond film that followed, with only a couple exceptions.

The line has been used, possibly overused, across movies and television alike. In one episode of The West Wing, President Jed Bartlet criticizes Bond, "Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it."

Here's Bond's martini recipe, actually this one would be a "Vesper," a drink of his own concoction, as quoted by Daniel Craig in the movie Casino Royale

"...three measures of Gordon's; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel."

Another famous drinker is Jeff Bridge's character "The Dude" in the movie The Big Lebowski. The Dude had an affinity for White Russians, drinking a total of nine of them throughout the course of the movie. This easy drinking cocktail is comprised of two parts vodka, one part Kahlua and one part cream.

The television show, and later the movie Sex and the City brought the Cosmopolitan cocktail into the spotlight. A few years back, I took a few bartending classes and while many of the drink ingredients have escaped my memory, I will always remember the recipe for this Very Trendy Little Cocktail by remembering that little mnemonic phrase. V is for Vodka, T is for Triple Sec, L is for Lime, and C is for cranberry. Shake with ice and strain into martini glasses, garnishing with a wedge of lime.

I've only seen the movie Cocktail all the way through once, but the chaotic bar scene always sticks with me. A frazzled Brian is tending a very crowded, busy bar and a customer keeps nagging him for his Cuba Libre. He eventually has to look the drink up in a menu book and his frustration comes out in a fury: "Why didn't you just say it was a rum and coke??"

To be fair, a true Cuba Libre is made with Bacardi white rum, and must always include a slice of lime.