Drinking in the Creativity
Themed cocktails for movie buffs, book worms and nerds
For a Halloween shindig, themed party or just for your own enjoyment, these books present collections of playful cocktails. The recipes are simple enough for the home bartender, without need for fancy infusions or obscure brands, all while riffing off of the books’ themes.
CINEMATIC CREATIONS
Film buffs can whip up concoctions from Gone with the Gin: Cocktails with a Hollywood Twist, by Tim Federle (Running Press, 2015). Each recipe includes the movie inspiration, year of release, director and plot description with a segue into the recipe.
Sip and sing with Boozy and the Beast or The Rocky Horror Pisco Show. Shiver along with Jurassic Port, Invasion of the Toddy Snatchers and The French Concoction or laugh while imbibing The Muppets Make Manhattans, Mrs. Stout-Fire, The Big Le-Brewski or Month Python and the Stoli Grail.
The book also includes movie munchie recipes, such as Grillers in the Mist and The Breakfast Cereal Club, plus movie-based drinking games.
LITERARY LIBATIONS
“That I can read and be happy while I am reading, is a great blessing,” said Anthony Trollope. Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist, by Tim Federle (Running Press, 2013), appeals to such booklovers.
Not only do the drink names make quips of titles and spirits – Silas Marnier, Vermouth the Bell Tolls, Gin Eyre, The Last of the Mojitos and The Malted Falcon – the author also carries his irreverence into the story descriptions. For the Absinthe Shrugged recipe, Federle says:
If you suffer from debilitating back pain, odds are you … exercise incorrectly, don’t exercise at all, or once tried to get through Atlas Shrugged. Ayn Rand’s heavier-than-a-toddler dystopian novel, in which much of the general public turns against mounting government regulations, remains a controversial slog today. Why not match this big boy with a similarly shifty ingredient: absinthe.
CANTINA DRINKS FOR NERDS
Nerds thrill to cocktails inspired by favorite sci-fi, fantasy and thriller flicks in The Cocktail Guide to the Galaxy, by Andy Heidel (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2017). Heidel is uniquely qualified to write this book, as the author of short stories commended by Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison (see Desperate Moon, by R. Andrew Heidel), master mixologist and proprietor of The Way Station, a Dr. Who-themed bar in Manhattan.
Scattered throughout the book are anecdotes, trivia, tips, industry insights and quotes, as in Dune’s “Beer is the mind killer. Beer is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my beer.” But never beer – I mean, never fear – the fearless quote is accompanied by an easy recipe using a Kölsch or Pilsner and Chambord.
The book’s allusions lack supporting explanations – an absence that will make the geek giddy with pride at getting the joke. But the recipes stand on their own, satisfying the non-nerd who smells jet fumes as the humor goes overhead. For 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example, the acronym-based drink, HAL, uses 1 part Hpnotiq, ¼ part Aperol and a splash of lemon juice. “Drink until your speech slurs while singing ‘Daisy’ to yourself.”
Other recipes inspired by nerd favorites include Back to the Future (Flux Incapacitator), Star Trek (Jameson T. Kirk), Star Wars (Sarlacczerac), Game of Thrones (George R.R. Martini), Dr. Who (Dark and Stormageddon) and many more.
Mixology & Murder: recipes to pair with serial killers, cults, and other true crimes
DRANKENSTEIN
A Halloween-ready, bright green concoction from Tequila Mockingbird
- 1 ounce melon liqueur
- 1 ounce tequila
- A 12-ounce can club soda
Pour the liqueur and tequila over ice in a highball glass, then fill to the top with club soda. Now, light a few candles, lock the door, and guard your potion with monosyllabic grunts.
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