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Sex and the City 2© Craig Blankenhorn - © MMIX New Line Productions, Inc.

The cocktails and the characters that made them famous

Having a drink with the stars of your favorite movies or TV series


FEBRUARY 7, 2020 3:47 PM EST

There are characters from films, television and literature that every time we think about them, we picture them holding a drink. Some became fashionable after being practically forgotten, like Don Draper’s Old Fashioned, while other characters gave their particular touch to classic drinks, such as James Bond’s shaken, not stirred Martini. We bring you some of the most memorable cocktails thanks to one or several scenes that gave them the status of icons in popular culture. Go ahead and give them a try!

A Cosmo in New York

“I’d like a cheeseburger, please, large fries and a Cosmopolitan.” More than 20 years ago Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda took New York by storm with a Cosmo in hand when Sex and the City premiered. Boyfriends, nightclubs and seasons passed, but this cocktail was the faithful companion of the four friends.

Cosmopolitans in Sex and the City© HBO FILMS/ HOME BOX OFFICE/NEW LINE CINEMA/VILLAGE ROADSHOW / BLANKENHORN, CRAIG
Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) enjoying the signature drink of the famous <i>Sex and the City</i>.

License to Drink

“Shaken, not stirred”. This phrase is part of cinema history and is found in every film with agent 007, who finds a way between each mission to enjoy his vodka with dry martini. The drink is so important to the character that his creator, Sir Ian Fleming, explains in the 1954 novel Live and Let Die that it has to be prepared with six parts of vodka, one of vermouth and be served from a cocktail shaker.

Martinis and James Bond© MGM
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in the 1995’s production of<i> GoldenEye</i>.

Vodka Tonic as a Melancholic Memory

In Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray’s first encounter in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, she shows how lost she was in Tokyo and her inexperience, by not knowing what to order in the bar. In the end she goes for a Vodka Tonic, remaining in the collective imaginary of moviegoers as the drink of melancholy and the ideal companion to face the solitude of a new city.

Lost in Translation© FOCUS FEATURES / SATO, YOSHIO
Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray in 2003 Sofia Coppola’s <i>Lost in Translation</i>.

A Trip to the Past

Alcohol is a central theme in the lives of the executives at Madison Avenue advertising agencies in Mad Men. And Don Draper, the lead character of the hit series, is no exception. His favorite cocktail, the Old Fashioned, had practically disappeared from many bar charts when the show premiered in 2007. After the show’s success and Draper’s charm, the Old Fashioned has become one of the most successful cocktails of the last decade.

Don Draper© Nextflix/Mad Men/Episode Photos /Season 3, Episode 1: Out of Town