Television-ary cocktails: recipes to stream now!
Nothing beats a thoroughly original television series that one can easily get lost in through its compelling characters, fascinating settings and distinctive storytelling that flows effortlessly. If the writers and producers are doing their job, the show will be the stuff of passionate conversations for weeks or even years after the episodes hit the airwaves. Not to mention the stuff of Emmy Awards chatter, to boot!
Along similar lines, a good cocktail made with the same level of care and attention to detail can be the talk of your next gathering or dinner party and in the days to follow. Savvy bartenders and chefs at top tier resorts from around America recently tapped into a variety of “destination” television series to generate conversation about their menus, bars and spirits offerings. While real-life getaway destinations are just beginning to open again for business, the best television continues to provide great escapes and inspiration.
From the frothy, fashionable and fanciful delights of shows like Bridgerton, Emily in Paris, and Sex and the City (whose reboot, And Just Like That, is in production) to complex libations inspired by equally complex dramas (Peaky Blinders, The Crown) and provocative reality shows (Selling Sunset), there’s something for every taste and mood.
We agree that good television, like a good cocktail premise, is simply a matter of being tuned in to your audience, and getting a sense of what they’re thirsting for based on the setting and occasion. And with that, we raise a glass to the 2021 Emmy Awards!
Recipes
Duke of Earl
700 Drayton at Mansion on Forsyth Park, Savannah, GA
Inspired by Bridgerton, Netflix
¾ oz Earl Grey syrup (*recipe below)
½ oz lemon juice
1 oz dry gin
1 oz Lillet Blanc
Edible flowers for garnish.
1. Combine ¾ oz Earl Grey syrup, lemon juice, dry gin, and Lillet Blanc into a shaker half filled with ice.
2. Shake vigorously.
3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a chilled coupe.
4. Garnish with a lemon twist or a sprig of lemon verbena.
For the Earl Grey syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 tbsp loose leaf Earl Grey tea.
1. Simmer ingredients in a small sauce pot and remove from heat.
2. Allow to steep for two minutes.
3. Strain and cool.
Bartender’s note: This pastel-hued, fruity Earl Grey-inspired cocktail, fitting even for the show’s Duke of Hastings, is festively garnished and prepared for the most sophisticated palate.
Royal Dog
Mico at Grand Bohemian Hotel Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Inspired by The Crown, Netflix
1½ oz Lillet Blanc
½ oz St Germain elderflower liqueur
2 oz Ketel One Grapefruit & Rose Botanical Vodka
Lavender powder
1. Place in a cocktail shaker with ice chips and shake for 15 seconds.
2. Rim your favourite vintage glass with lavender powder and strain.
Bartender’s note: The Crown-inspired cocktail is a jubilee of flavours and will curb any craving with hints of elderflower, grapefruit and rose botanical vodka and lavender powder.
Burst Your Bubble
Terrace 16 at Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, Chicago, IL
Inspired by Sex and the City, HBO
1½ oz Iichiko Shochu
¾ oz St Germain elderflower liqueur
¾ oz 100 per cent raspberry purée
½ oz Simple syrup (1:1)
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz sparkling white wine
1. Place in a cocktail shaker with ice chips.
2. Mix for 15 seconds.
3. Pour into your favourite vintage glass.
Bartender’s note: Burst Your Bubble is designed to celebrate the return to fun with friends, as it becomes safer to socialize as 2021 rolls on. At Terrace 16, the drink is finished with bubble gum-infused smoke, but we assume the home version can be just as sparkling and fun.
The Lavender Lasso
Charlie Park, Tallahassee, FL
Inspired by Ted Lasso, AppleTV+
1½ oz Empress gin
¾ oz Coco coconut water
1 oz pineapple
1 oz lime juice
¼ oz lavender syrup
¼ oz IPA syrup
¼ oz butterfly pea flower syrup
Ube (purple yam) dust garnish
Dried lavender flowers (garnish)
1. Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice.
2. Strain into martini glass or coupe rimmed with dried lavender flowers.
3. Lightly sprinkle ube dust over the froth when poured for contrast.
Bartender’s note: All-American college football coach and unapologetic optimist Ted Lasso shakes things up when he arrives in London to steer s struggling football (soccer) team toward a winning spirit and new ways to appreciate and up their game. The use of fresh edible flowers, dried lavender on the rim and a sprinkling of ube dust to adds brightness that takes the team and staff by surprise.
Kiawah Surprise
Timbers Kiawah, Kiawah Island, SC
Inspired by Selling Sunset, Netflix
½ oz lemon juice
¼ oz demerara syrup
¼ oz strawberry simple syrup
2 oz Four Roses whiskey bourbon
2 dashes black walnut bitters
2 fresh strawberries (sliced)
Splash club soda
Strawberry garnish
1. In a shaker glass, combine strawberries and lemon juice and muddle together.
2. Add in ice, demerara syrup, strawberry syrup, bourbon and bitters.
3. Shake vigorously for six to eight seconds.
4. Fill rocks glass with ice.
5. Double-strain cocktail into glass.
6. Float with club soda and garnish with strawberry.
Bartender’s note: Inspired by the escape into a life of luxury through the lens of million-dollar real estate deals and dealers in this Netflix reality show, the resort serves up curb appeal in cocktail form with the Kiawah Sunrise.
Pogue Tea
Bogue Sound Distillery, Crystal Coast, NC
Inspired by Outer Banks, Netflix
2 oz JAPC salted caramel spirit
½ oz triple Sec
½ oz sour mix
½ oz Coca-Cola
1. Pour all non-carbonated ingredients into a highball glass over ice.
2. Pour into mixer and then back into glass.
3. Top with cola.
4. Garnish with lemon slice.
Polly’s Lament
Stone & Webster at Plant Riverside District, Location
Inspired by Peaky Blinders, Netflix
1½ oz Teeling’s Irish whiskey
½ oz green chartreuse
1 oz Carpano Antica vermouth
Bar spoon grand marnier
4 dashes angostura bitters
1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir to dilute.
2. Strain into a chilled coupe and express an orange peel over the cocktail.
3. Garnish with an orange twist.
Bartender’s note: This creation is based on the Tipperary cocktail, dating back to 1917, echoing the gritty setting of Peaky Blinders. The name Tipperary is a nod to the county in Ireland, home to many a battle-weary soldier in search of life after World War I. This updated version features Grand Marnier liqueur in celebration of the flashy, tough as nails matriarch of the Shelby gang and Polly’s own violent battle to protect her family.
Cobra Strike
Planet Hollywood Beach Resort Cancún, Cancún
Inspired by Cobra Kai, Netflix
1½ oz vodka of choice
1/3 oz vermouth bianco
1 oz lychee syrup
Top soda
Lychee, basil (garnish)
1. Combine lychee syrup, vermouth and vodka into a cocktail shaker with ice chips and shake for 15 seconds; pour into a vintage ’80s glass.
2. Add in ice and shake your mixture.
3. Strain and serve in a glass over crushed ice, top off with soda.
4. Finish with a lychee and basil on a spear or toothpick.
Bartender’s note: As nostalgia goes hand in hand with period movie memorabilia at Planet Hollywood, and some of the team shirts featured in the Karate Kid movies are on display, the bar team draws inspiration from the movies’ sequel series, Cobra Kai, to create this punchy and fun cocktail.
Lucin Cut-off
High West Distillery, Park City, UT
Inspired by Hell on Wheels, AMC/Netflix
1 oz double rye
¾ oz Averna
½ oz Highland Park 12
Barspoon crème de banane
1 oz cold brew concentrate
½ oz cinnamon syrup
Orange garnish
1. Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice, stir until chilled.
2. Strain over 1 × 1 in ice cubes in an old-fashioned glass.
3. Garnish with orange zest.
Bartender’s note: In the context of this western series originally aired on AMC, the Lucin Cut-Off was the ambitious project to bypass the original Promontory Summit line where the Golden Spike was driven in 1869, marking the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad. By heading west across the Great Salt Lake from Ogden to Lucin, 44 miles (71 km) were cut off the original route and significantly decreased curvature and grade, saving considerable time and expense for freight.
Emily in the Smokies
Southern Comfort at Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort, Gatlinburg, TN
Inspired by Emily in Paris, Netflix
2 oz Buffalo Trace bourbon
3 dashes blood orange bitters
2 sugar cubes
1 Bordeaux cherry (for garnish)
Orange peel (for garnish)
Splash of Bordeaux cherry juice
1. In an old-fashioned glass mixer, place two sugar cubes and the fruit of an orange wedge into the bottom.
2. Coat the sugar cubes with three dashes of blood orange bitters and a splash of Bordeaux cherry juice.
3. Pour in two ounces of Buffalo Trace bourbon, then stir with bar spoon until sugar is dissolved. Double strain into a rocks glass and pour over one large ice ball.
4. Garnish with a Bordeaux cherry and an orange peel.
5. Delivered to the table in a smoking decanter from ignited cherry wood.
Bartender’s note: Similar to the Netflix hit, this cocktail is all about adding international flair to an American classic.
Key Largo’s Little Secret
Bungalows Key Largo, Florida
Inspired by Bloodline, Netflix
1½ oz vodka
4 oz lemonade
1¼ oz of blueberry simple syrup
1. Pour vodka, lemonade and blueberry syrup into a shaker with ice and mix for 10 seconds.
2. After fully mixed, strain the liquid and pour into a Collins glass over fresh ice.
3. Garnish with a lemon wedge, blueberry and cherry.
Bartender’s note: Inspired by drama Bloodline’s complexity and Key Largo setting, the resort’s signature cocktail embraces the elegance of the property with a simple yet delightfully refined libation … minus the drama!
