I’m partial to a cocktail or two (who isn’t?) and one of the things I’ve been missing during lockdown is the experience of sitting down at a bar and enjoying a cocktail with a friend. While we won’t be popping down to our local bar any time soon, there’s no reason why we can’t recreate classic cocktails at home.
That’s where Drinks Meet The Movies comes in. Pro bartender and filmmaker Mario serves expert movie-themed virtual cocktail classes from his home in Mexico. We booked this experience via Airbnb, paying a very reasonable £7 (plus the cost of the alcohol) for the two of us. We ended up being the only people on the call, meaning that we were essentially getting a private class for just £3.50 each – an absolute bargain if you ask me.
Mario sent us our ingredients list ahead of time, and we headed to our local Tesco superstore to gather the goods. On the list were lemons, limes, an orange, olives, red vermouth, white vermouth, gin, vodka, whiskey, bourbon, sugar, mint, and soda water.
I was surprised that Tesco had everything we needed, including smaller measures of the gin and vodka (we’d been advised to get 35cl of each.)
On the evening of our class, I gathered our ingredients and as much cocktail-adjacent apparatus as I could find hiding in the kitchen. Our cheap plastic shaker, a Christmas present from a few years ago, definitely paled in comparison to Mario’s professional silver one, but we made it work.
We signed into the live Zoom link that we’d been sent ahead of time, and introduced ourselves to Mario. After getting to know each other a little bit, Mario started telling us about the concept behind Drinks Meet The Movies. Having been involved in both cocktail making and movies throughout his life, he’s combined his two passions to create a cocktail-making experience that can be enjoyed virtually.
He explained that he loves watching movies, but even better he loves to create a specific atmosphere around the movie, matching the cocktails and food to the theme to make it more of an ‘event’. This idea resonated with me, as during lockdown I think we’ve all been searching for ways to make our evenings stand out from each other instead of melting into one endless, telly-watching blur.
We started by talking about Britain’s favourite fictional spy, James Bond. Despite working for MI5 and having to keep a low profile, seemingly everyone in the world knows James’ drink of choice! Mario showed us a supercut of all the times James Bond has ordered his signature martini, along with a clip from Doctor No with a suave Sean Connery to get us into the atmosphere of the film and the drink.
Next, it was time to try our hands at making a martini ourselves! We’d be making a ‘Vesper’ martini, a slightly different variation on the traditional recipe.
We grabbed our cocktail shaker and added vodka, gin, and white vermouth over ice. We didn’t have any means of measuring the correct amounts, so Mario showed us how to gently free-pour resting on the edge of the shaker, for a given number of seconds to pour the correct amount in. Once our correctly measured spirits were in the shaker, he showed us how to shake using a glass on top, gently teetering from side to side so as not to break anything!
We peeled our lemon, and with one neat slice of lemon skin, anointed the inside and edge of the glass. Mario said if you’re serving in a traditional martini glass (which, surprise surprise, we didn’t have!) you would also rub the lemon skin on the stem, so that when you lift the glass to take a sip you’re hit with the distinctive citrus scent.
I was pleasantly surprised by the martini; I told Mario that I had honestly suspected I might not like it, due to being quite sensitive to the taste of alcohol and a martini being exclusively comprised of alcohol. Despite definitely being able to taste the alcohol, the slight sweetness of the vermouth and taste of lemon offset it and made for a really well-balanced drink. Even my partner Louis, whose favourite spirit is Amaretto, enjoyed his Vesper.
We then moved on to our next film and cocktail combo; China Town and a Tom Collins. We watched the opening to the film, and Mario explained how the film uses this drink to set the scene. When the characters order a Tom Collins, without anyone having to say it, you instantly know that the movie is taking place somewhere hot – as Tom Collins are famously refreshing.
We then set to making our own refreshing Tom Collins. Combining gin with plenty of ice, a sprig of mint and a generous heap of sugar, we squeezed 2 limes per glass and topped off with soda water. This was by far my favourite drink, as it basically tasted like a boozy sherbet lemonade, perfectly tart and sweet. I am a big fan of citrus, so this drink really ticked all the boxes for me!
Our final drink and movie combination was Some Like it Hot and a Manhattan cocktail. I had actually never seen this classic film before, but after watching Mario’s chosen scene, I can say this has shot to the top of my ‘to watch’ list! During this raucous scene, Marylin Monroe and Jack Lemmon attempt to make Manhattans on a moving sleeper train, and the rest of the carriage attempts to join them, all squeezing into one bunk. It was a fun, lighthearted contrast to China Town, which provided more of a dark and brooding atmosphere.
We made our Manhattans by combining red vermouth, bourbon and a slice of orange with ice.
While we drank, Mario put on the opening to Woody Allen’s Manhattan. He said that while nobody actually drinks a Manhattan in the movie, who can resist drinking a Manhattan while watching Manhattan? Have I said Manhattan enough times in this paragraph?!
By the end of the evening I felt well-versed in cocktail making, having picked up a few tips and tricks to use for cocktail parties to come, as well as inspired to create some at-home cocktail and movie nights myself!
I really enjoyed this experience; it provided some fun entertainment and connection during lockdown, and at just £7 for 2 hours, it’s truly great value. Click here to book your spot!
