The 2000s have seen a major revived Cocktail Culture with retro speakeasy bars serving traditional and new cocktails, along with new cocktail oriented TV shows and magazines. There has been an increase in U.S. craft distilleries from 24 in 2,000 to 2,000 in 2024.
The Madmen TV show helped drive the Cocktail Culture from 2007 to 2015; along with Sex and the City TV show 1998 to 2004; Cheers TV 1982 to 1993; and James Darren played lounge crooner Vic Fontaine on Deep Space Nine TV show 1998-1999. As well as renewed popularity of the Sinatra Rat Pack, James Bond movies, Tiki bars, piano bars, and live jazz music at fine dining restaurants.
Social Drinking Popularity 1950s and ‘60s
Social drinking has been the norm since 1920’s Prohibition when everybody drank. After World War Two and in the Fifties, social drinking at home became popular as a form of entertainment. Men and women would often have a drink after work to unwind. To encourage women’s drinking, bartenders invented fruity and sweet cocktails such as the Grasshopper, Pink Squirrel, White Russian, and Sloe Gin Fizz. Sunday brunches also grew in popularity where Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s would be served. Of course beer, ale, wine, and champagne have always been popular in America.
Rum and whisky were popular in the 1940s and early 1950s since it was hard to obtain gin and vodka during war rationing. Gin and vodka soon became very popular in the Fifties. Tiki restaurants were another popular trend in the 1950s and 1960s. Based on so-called Hawaiian culture, Tiki restaurants expanded across America. Tiki tropical cocktails were popular, such as the Mai Tai, Blue Hawaiian, Singapore Sling, and Rum Runner.
Popular Cocktail Icons
Humphrey Bogart’s “Holmby Hills Rat Pack”was an informal group of actors and entertainers in the 1940s and 50s, known for their love of cocktails, camaraderie, partying, and involvement in the Hollywood social scene. The Rat Pack was known for their cocktail parties and poker nights at Bogart and Bacall’s home in the elite, fashionable Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. These parties were legendary in Hollywood and they became a gathering place for many of the biggest stars of the day. The parties were characterized by drinking, food, storytelling, music, cards, and a relaxed atmosphere where celebrities could let their guard down and enjoy each other’s company.
The group members included: Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and her husband agent Sid Luft, David Niven, Clifton Webb, restaurant owner Mike Romanoff, agent Swifty Lazar, Rex Harrison, director George Cukor, writer Nathaniel Benchley, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Angie Dickinson, songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, Errol Flynn, Mickey Rooney, Nat King Cole, and Cesar Romero. The gatherings also attracted a who’s who of Hollywood stars, including Peter Lorre, Danny Kaye, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Sammy David Jr, Robert Mitchum, Elizabeth Taylor, Lena Horne, Joan Bennett, John Huston, Richard Burton, writer Louis Broomfield, writer Nunnally Johnson, and others. These parties were known for their exclusive guest lists and the elite status of their attendees.
Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack of the 1960s – Frank Sinatra’s legendary Rat Pack was bigger than life and captured the attention of the American public. The group set the trends, style, and standards of the 1960s. The infamous pack of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford were notorious for their antics, song, dance, gags, laughs, and lots of booze in Las Vegas, TV, and film. Associated members included Shirley MacLaine, Angie Dickinson, Marilyn Monroe, Buddy Greco, Don Rickles, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Juliet Prowse, and others.
James Bond Films are based on the best-selling spy novels (12 novels) of Ian Fleming (1908- 1964) about playboy British Secret Service Agent 007. Eight additional screenplays have been created for movies. There have been 25 Bond films since the first Dr. No in 1962. Bond has been portrayed by Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig – all portraying Bond as a heavy drinker – “Shaken not stirred.”
Madmen TV- The popular show accurately portrayed the lifestyles of corporate America in the 1950s and 1960s – everyone smoked and drank alcoholic beverages. In the 1950s, the generation that grew up in the Great Depression and fought World War Two were tough, they worked hard, and partied hard. Drinking was common at most social functions and people were expected to be able to hold their alcohol. Social drinking was the norm in the Fifties. Drinking with friends and neighbors at home was at an all-time high. Homemakers relished in showing off their home décor, cooking skills, and fashion by hosting cocktail parties.
Manhattan
A well known fashionable drink which is rich with strong flavors. Manhattans originated in the 1870s in New York. A Manhattan made with scotch is a Rob Roy. Popular with the Sinatra Rat Pack and appeared on the Mad Men TV show.
Recipe:
2 parts rye whisky, bourbon, or Canadian whisky
1 part sweet red vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
Mix with ice, stir and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
Martini
The best known and widely popular cocktail that can be made with gin or vodka. Martinis originated in the 1860s. In the 1940s the vodka to vermouth ratio was 4 to 1, by the 1950s it was 6 to 1. The vodka martini was popularized in James Bond films, the Sinatra Rat Pack, and was a regular drink on the Mad Men TV show. The drink of choice by Eugene O’Neill, Sylvia Plath, and Jack London.
Recipe:
6 parts gin (or old traditional 4 parts)
1 part dry vermouth
Mix in a shaker with ice, strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lemon peel oil and olives. A vodka martini is the same but uses vodka instead of gin.
Old Fashioned
An iconic cocktail that originated in the 1830s. Making a proper old fashioned is considered an art form. This is the Don Draper cocktail of choice on Mad Men. In James Bond films and the drink of choice by MarkTwain.
Recipe:
2 parts bourbon or rye whiskey
1 sugar cube
few dashes Angostura bitters
few dashes of water
Muddle sugar, bitters, and water in an old fashioned glass. Fill with ice and whisky, stir.
Garnish with an orange slice and a cocktail cherry.
Stinger
A ‘society’ cocktail of the upper classes in New York in the 1890s. Billionaire Vanderbilt popularized the drink. The stinger has appeared in many novels and movies, including James Bond films.
Recipe:
3 parts cognac or brandy
1 part white crème de menthe
Mix with ice, strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with mint leaves.
Daiquiri
Very popular in the 1940s when it was hard to obtain vodka and gin due to rationing. The drink originated in Cuba and was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway who lived in Cuba.
Recipe:
2 parts rum
1 part fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
Stir, dissolve sugar, add ice, shake, strain into a chilled martini glass.
Tom Collins
The Tom Collins grew in popularity in the U.S., England, France, and Germany in the 1880s. In James Bond films and the Madmen TV Show.
Recipe:
3 parts gin
2 parts lemon juice
1 part sugar syrup
4 parts soda water
Mix in a Tom Collins glass with ice. Garnish with a lemon slice and a cocktail cherry.
Mojito
A favorite Cuban drink of Ernest Hemingway and in James Bond films.
Recipe:
2 parts rum
1 part fresh lime juice
6 mint sprigs
2 teaspoons of sugar
splash of soda water
Mix and pour into a Tom Collins glass, stir. Garnish with sprigs of mint and a slice of lime.
Bloody Mary
Invented in the 1920s in either New York or Paris. Popular as a reputed drink for hangovers and served at Sunday brunches. In the Madmen TV show.
Recipe:
3 parts vodka
6 parts tomato juice
2 to 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Add Tabasco, celery salt, black pepper, and horseradish to taste.
Stir, pour over ice into a highball glass. Garnish with a celery stalk and a lemon wedge.
Whisky Sour
Originates in the 1870s and was popular in North and South America. In the Madmen TV show.
Recipe:
3 parts bourbon
2 parts fresh lemon juice
1 part sugar syrup
Shake with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass.
Mint Julep
The signature cocktail of the Kentucky Derby since 1932. The drink originated in the 1780s and was a popular drink throughout the southern states. In Jams Bond films and the drink of choice of William Faulkner.
Recipe:
3 ounces bourbon
4 mint sprigs
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
2 teaspoon water
Muddle mint, sugar, water in a highball glass, fill with cracked ice, add whiskey, stir. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Side Car
The side car developed in London and Paris after World War One. Often served with Oysters Rockefeller. In the Madmen TV show.
Recipe:
2 parts cognac or brandy
1 part orange liquor
1 fresh lemon juice
Shake with ice, strain into a chilled martini glass.
Irish Coffee
Developed in Ireland in the 1940s and popular worldwide.
Recipe:
2 parts Irish whisky
4 parts hot coffee
1.5 parts fresh cream
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Pour Irish coffee into a mug. Pour cream on the top.
Pina Colada
A tropical cocktail that was invented in Puerto Rico in the 1950s.
Recipe:
1 part white rum
1 part coconut cream
3 parts fresh pineapple juice
Blend all ingredients with ice, pour into a hurricane glass. Garnish with a pineapple slice and cocktail cherry.
Margarita
A Mexican cocktail popularized in the 1930s. Esquire published the first recipe in 1953. Drink of choice by Jack Kerouac.
Recipe:
10 parts tequila
4 parts orange liquor
3 parts fresh lime juice
Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a chilled margarita glass. Garnish with salt on the glass rim.
References
- The Bar Book Elements of Cocktail Technique, Jeffrey Morganthaler
- The Craft of the Cocktail, Dale DeGroff
- Meehan’s Bartender Manual, Jim Merhan
- Modern Cocktail Classics, Robert Simonson
