Every year Cocktail Chameleon Author and Entertaining Expert Mark Addison creates signature Oscar Cocktails inspired for each of the Academy Awards’ Best Picture nominated films.
This highly anticipated list of cinematic libations comes out the week after the nominees are announced.
Film: “Darkest Hour”
The Churchill Champagne Cocktail is a variation of a Manhattan-style cocktail created for Winston Churchill in the 1940’s at the Savoy hotel in London. This version features his beloved Scotch whisky and champagne, which he reportedly drank most every day from noon to night.
The Churchill
(variation on the Champagne Cocktail)
1 oz. Scotch whisky (Churchill preferred Johnnie Walker)
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. Cointreau
2 oz. champagne
Garnish: lemon peel
Glassware: 8 oz. Tiffany & Co. Vintage Coupe Glass (7” h)
Shake ingredients together with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe and top with chilled champagne. Garnish with the lemon peel.
Film: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
The themes in “Three Billboards…” are dark and horrific, which is challenging to draw inspiration from for a festive Oscar cocktail… instead, drawing inspiration from the title and the film’s location, “3 Cocktails…” features Missouri based spirits incorporated into classic cocktails with a distinctively Ozark ingredients and themes.
Three Cocktails from inside Missouri
Missouri Mule
1 1/2 oz. Missouri Sprits Bourbon Whiskey
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. Campari
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
Garnish: lemon wheel
Glassware: 16 oz. Christofle Highball Glass (6” h)
Combine with ice, shake and pour into a highball glass. Garnish with lemon wheel.
Missouri Manhattan
2 oz. Missouri Sprits Corn Whiskey
1/2 oz. Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz. Agave Nectar
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Garnish: maraschino cherry, one king ice cube
Glassware: 8 oz. Christofle Old Fashion (3” h)
In a mixing glass with ice, combine the ingredients and stir well. Strain over a king cube in an old fashion glass. Garnish with a cherry.
Missouri Martini
2 ounces Missouri Sprits Vodka
1/4-ounce extra dry vermouth
1/4-ounce pickle juice
1 dash of hot sauce
Garnish: dill pickle spear
Glassware: 8 oz. Christofle Martini Glass (6 1/2” h)
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain contents into chilled martini glass and garnish with pickle.
Film: “Call me by your name”
The iconic Italian Negroni is updated with apricot liqueur and French dry vermouth inspired the film’s Italian location, the apricot orchards surrounding family’s Italian countryside villa and the French heritage of romantic lead character, Elio. *note: no peaches were harmed in the making of this cocktail… (to soon?)
Apricot Negroni Spritzer
1 1/4 oz gin
1 1/4 oz French dry vermouth
3/4 oz Aperol
1/4 oz apricot liqueur
3 dashes of orange bitters
Garnish: orange peel & apricot wedge
Glassware: 16 oz. Chateau Baccarat Tumbler (3 1/2″ h)
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and slowly stir to chill. Pour into a tumbler and garnish with a peach slice and a cherry.
Film: “Shape of Water”
Fizz cocktails were at their height of popularity in the 50’s and 60’s during which the “Shape of Water” is set. The Swamp Fizz combines green Crème De Menthe (also immensely popular in the era), citrus, sugar and club soda in classic Fizz proportions with egg whites for added fizz and accentuates the Creatures’ favorite food, eggs!
Swamp Fizz
2 Oz. Gin
1 Tsp. Green Crème De Menthe
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 egg white
1 Tsp. Superfine Sugar
Club Soda
Garnish: lime zest
Glassware: 16 oz. Tiffany & Co. Vintage Highball Glass (5 1/2″ h)
Add gin, crème de menthe, lemon juice, sugar and egg white to your shaker with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into Collins glass over ice and top with club soda. Garnish with lime zest.
Film: “Dunkirk”
Inspired by struggle of evacuate the Allied soldiers from the beaches of France under attack by German forces, the Dunkirk Toddy blends a classic English hot beverage with French cognac and Benedictine, resulting in a Franco-British hot cocktail that any of the 300,000 soldiers rescued in the operation would appreciate.
Dunkirk Toddy
The traditional Hot Toddy recipe is made with whisky but to give the classic Toddy a French twist I substitute equal parts French cognac and Benedictine Dom with its lovely warming flavors and its pronounced herbal and spicy tones.
1 oz. Benedictine Dom
1 oz. French cognac
1 dash Angostura bitters
4 cloves
1 lemon peel
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. honey
Top with oth water
Garnish: one cinnamon stick
Glassware: 8 oz. Bormioli Rocco Oslo Coffee Cup (3 3/4″ h)
Fix the cloves into the wedge of lemon and put into a glass mug. Add
all the other ingredients and top with hot water. Stir gently
and serve.
Film: “Phantom Thread”
Dark Love is a champagne cocktail that embodies the volatile love affair between 50’s fashion couturier and a young waitress. Parfait Amour (or Perfect Love) is a French violet liqueur, which when combined with blue curacao takes on a blackish tone. The blend of a the eau de vie (water of life), Parfait amour and champagne creates a sweet rich libation that is impossible to resist… submit to this Dark Love.
Dark Love
(variation on Perfect Love from Cocktail Chameleon)
1 oz. Parfait Amour (violet liqueur)
1/2 oz. eau de vie Poire (pear brandy)
1/2 oz. blue curacao
5 oz. Champagne, chilled
Garnish: orchid flower
Glassware: 8 oz. Chateau Baccarat Flute (9 1/2″ h)
Fill the shaker with ice, then add the Parfait Amour, brandy and liqueur, shaking until well chilled.
Film: “The Post”
What is black, white and red all over…? The most infamous newspaper, The Washington Post! Known for exposing the Watergate scandal and Pentagon Papers, the latest film The Post (and this cocktail) draw allusions to the then and current presidencies. Black, White, and Read All Over looks like an all American coffee but a white Russian lurks under the surface and is stained by a red cherry syrup.
Black & White and Read All Over
2 oz. cold-press coffee
1 oz. vodka
1 oz. coffee liqueur
1 oz. orange liqueur
1 oz. half & half
Garnish: 1/2 oz. maraschino cherry juice
Glassware: 8 oz. Libbey Irish Coffee Mug (5 3/4″ h)
Fill the shaker with ice and add the coffee, vodka and liqueurs, shaking until well chilled. Pour into the glass and float the half & half on top by slowly pouring it over the back of the spoon followed by the cherry juice
Film: “Get Out”
Chris agrees to be hypnotized by his girlfriend’s mother to cure his smoking addiction but instead, sinks into the “sunken place” where after an operation to tranplant the mind of a white man into his body, Chris would remain in the void watching powerlessly. The Sunken Place cocktail looks innocuous on the surface but has a dark underside trapped beneath.
The Sunken Place
2 oz. rum
1 oz. coconut rum
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 oz. cream of coconut
Garnish:
½ oz. blue curacao
½ oz. grenadine
Glassware: 12 oz. Mikasa Cheers Martini Glass (7 1/2″ h)
Combine rums, pineapple juice and cream of coconut in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into chilled martini glass. Combine the blue curacao and grenadine and slowly drizzle down the side of the glass. It will settle at the bottom and create a beautiful “black and white” layered look.
Film: “Lady Bird”
The Kiwi Punch represents the struggle of Lady Bird (aka Christine) who desperately wants to fly-off to an out-of-state college but feels grounded by her over protective and critical mother. A Kiwi is a flightless bird native of New Zealand as well as a fruit also from New Zealand. Kiwifruit give this punch it’s fruity punch and is served in a soda glass making it look unassuming while packing another punch of vodka. *simply omit the vodka for a non-alcoholic version sans the punch!
Kiwi Punch (aka Flightless Bird) – Serves 8
2 cups kiwi, peeled and diced
12 mint leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
3 limes, juiced
2 cups vodka
2 cups tonic water
ice cubes
1 kiwi, thinly sliced for garnish
Garnish: Star fruit slice, mint sprigs
Glassware: 16 oz. Riedel Coca Cola Glass (6 1/2″ h)
In a pitcher, combine diced kiwis, mint leaves, sugar, and ½ lime juiced. Muddle the contents until fully combined. Fill the pitcher with ice and top off with vodka and tonic water. Stir, pour into eight tumbler glasses over ice making sure each glass receives equal amounts of kiwi and mint leaves. Garnish with a star fruit slice and mint sprig.
***The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will honor the best films of 2017 and will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California at 5:00 p.m. PST on March 4, 2018.
About Cocktail Chameleon:
From the classic Margarita to the Love Byte, a stunning new home mixologist’s one-stop guide is award-winning designer and producer Mark Addison’s invitation to join him as he dresses up twelve cocktails in twelve unique variations for 144 signature takes on the classics.
The book is called Cocktail Chameleon and was named “Best in U.S.A.” in the Cocktail an Spirits category December 2017 by the Gourmand World Cookbooks Awards.
It’s called entertaining for a reason: you get to have fun while you do it! — Mark Addison
Mr. Addison tantalizes with molecular mixology to create the Anti-Gravity, instructs on how to reinvent the beloved Bloody Mary with sake, and invokes the famed royal rose garden with the Versailles in this beautiful new book. Inside readers will find:
- The Pop-Rocks-rimmed Anti Gravity Martini
- Bloody Mary’s Asian sister the Bloody Geisha made with Sake and Sriracha
- The red, white and blue tower of theFireworks Margarita
- An aromatic combination of orange and espresso called La Seville
- The Old Fashioned inspired Old Black Magic, a sultry variation on the original
- The Provence, an elegant twist on the traditional Champagne cocktail with lavender syrup
- The Sangria Flora, a traditional sangria with Elderflower
- The herbal complexity of the Versailles, the Manhattan gone botanical
Whether given as a gift or a valuable addition to one’s own library, Cocktail Chameleon will unlock the mixologist in everyone. It is sure to become an instant ally for hosts looking to elevate an occasion, or to help unwind and end the day on a high note!
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