Oscar Party Cocktails! 10 Tipples Inspired By the Best Picture Nominees

”Avatar was by far my favorite movie,” says Lee, who is also the author of Semi-Homemade Cocktail Time. ”Even though it was intense, it’s amazing how you can bond with an animated character. When they plugged Sigourney Weaver into the tree, and you’re just willing her to live, it was very emotional. The white cranberry’s sweeter than the red cranberry juice so that’s why I use that in this blue drink. And the citrus vodka honors that beautiful tree of life.”

Recipe (makes one drink):
1 oz. citrus vodka (suggest Ketel One Citroen)
1 oz. white cranberry juice
1/2 oz. blue curaçao
1 squeeze lime juice
Ice cubes
In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients; cover and shake until very cold. Strain into a chilled glass.

”I’m a huge Sandra Bullock fan and this is a girl drink — a mom dessert cocktail for doing good at the end of the day. When her son wins the football game, God bless, she gets to go home and have her cocktail.”

Recipe (makes 1 drink):
2.25 oz. half-and-half
1 oz. sambuca (suggest Romana Sambuca)
1/2 oz. coffee Irish cream liqueur (suggest Baileys)
Ice cubes
Whole coffee beans
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add half-and-half, sambuca, and coffee liqueur. Cover and shake vigorously. Strain into an ice-filled glass. Garnish with whole coffee beans.

”Like the movie, this drink is a little gritty. If you’re serving red wine, definitely serve this punch.

Recipe (makes 18 drinks):
8 whole cardamom pods
Cinnamon sticks (16 inches worth), broken
12 whole cloves
1 can (11.5- or 12-oz.) frozen cranberry juice concentrate
Water
4 cups Merlot (suggest Beaulieu Vineyard’s BV)
1/3 cup honey
Fresh cranberries
Orange slices
For spice bag, cut a 6-inch square from a double thickness of 100-percent-cotton cheesecloth. Pinch cardamom pods to break. Center the cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves on the cheesecloth square. Bring up the corners and tie closed with clean kitchen string. Set aside.

In a 3 1/2 to 6-quart slow cooker, mix cranberry juice concentrate with water according to the directions on the can. Stir in wine and honey. Add spice bag. Cover and cook on the low-heat setting for 4 to 6 hours or high heat 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Remove and discard spice bag. Ladle punch into glasses. Garnish with cranberries and orange slices.

”I think this Mister Mister here [in the movie] should drink a couple of these Educations and go find himself an age-appropriate woman. I’m just sayin’. But the Grand Marnier is sophisticated and it kind of goes with the theme of the art galleries and the different places that he took her that really wooed her.”

Recipe (makes 1 drink):
1 oz. blueberry-flavored vodka (suggest Smirnoff)
1/2 ounce orange liqueur (suggest Grand Marnier)
1 splash sweetened lime juice
Ice cubes
Fresh blueberries
In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, orange liqueur, and lime juice. Add ice; cover and shake until very cold. Strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with fresh blueberries.

”Another gritty one. I saw the trailers for this movie — I did not see this movie — but I saw all of the big bombs and the car blow-ups. This is the only drink that’s strong enough and hot enough to stand up to The Hurt Locker.”

Recipe (makes one drink):
1 oz. tequila (suggest Jose Cuervo Especial)
1 splash tomato juice
Dash hot pepper sauce (suggest Tabasco)
Ice-cold beer (suggest Red Stripe)
In a chilled tall glass combine tequila, tomato juice, and hot pepper sauce. Stir to mix. Serve with ice-cold beer as a chaser.

”Crown Royal is a serious man’s drink. With a little bit of bitters and some pineapple juice to top it off, this is a beautiful, masculine drink. Or a very sexy woman’s drink. This should be Angelina Jolie’s drink.”

Recipe (makes one drink):
1 1/2 oz. Canadian whisky (suggest Crown Royal)
1 sugar cube
1 tsp. water
1 dash bitters
Splash of pineapple juice
Ice cubes
Maraschino cherry
Orange slice
In a glass combine sugar cube, water, bitters, and pineapple juice. Using a spoon, stir until sugar is dissolved. Add ice cubes. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and orange slice.

”There are so many jobless people right now that I should come up with a cocktail to suit them. But this [is a drink] for George Clooney. It’s Ciroc and the crème de cassis and the amaretto; it’s very sexy.”

Recipe (makes one drink):
1 oz. vodka (suggest Cîroc)
1 tbsp. cold water
1/2 oz. crème de cassis
1/2 oz. amaretto
Ice cubes
1 lime wedge
Maraschino cherry
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, cold water, crème de cassis, and amaretto. Squeeze in lime juice. Cover and shake vigorously. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with cherry.

”There’s so much abuse and violence in this movie. I think that any adult who watches that movie should have a cocktail. That girl’s gone through so much that, by the time you get done, you’re so emotionally spent that you need a drink. And that cocktail is precious.”

Recipe (makes one drink):
1 1/2 oz. vanilla-flavored vodka (suggest Smirnoff)
1 1/2 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tbsp. cream of coconut
3/4 oz key lime juice
Ice cubes
Lime slice
In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and key lime juice. Add ice; cover and shake until very cold. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lime slice.

”The half-and-half and the milk are supposed to represent the beautiful fluffy clouds and the sky. And Sambuca gives it a great twist — not something that you’re expecting — just like the movie.”

Recipe (makes one drink):
1 oz. half-and-half
1 oz. milk
3/4 oz. sambuca (suggest Romana Sambuca)
1/2 oz. gin (suggest Tanqueray)
Ice cubes
In a cocktail shaker, combine half-and-half, milk, sambuca, and gin. Add ice; cover and shake until very cold. Strain into a chilled martini glass.

”Brad Pitt had a whole band of brothers in this and one of the things that I love about this drink is it’s made in a cocktail shaker, but it’s just as good served in a pitcher for your band of brothers. The garnish is not very guy-y. But the gin definitely makes this a guy’s drink.”

Recipe (makes one drink):
Ice cubes
1 oz. gin (suggest Tanqueray)
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. bitter Italian apéritif (suggest Campari)
1 splash orange juice
Orange slice
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add gin, sweet vermouth, apéritif, and orange juice. Cover and shake vigorously. Strain into an ice-filled glass. Garnish with an orange slice.

All cocktails adapted from Sandra Lee’s Semi-Homemade Cocktail Time.