Oscar Cocktails 2013: Planning Your Oscar Party

Top (L to R): Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Middle (L to R): Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi; Bottom (L to R): Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

The Oscars are just three days away! I hope you've enjoyed my series of cocktails inspired by this year's nominees for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It's a collection of drinks as diverse as the movies they are based on.

I came up with these drinks over the course of the last few weeks. Making them all in one night for an Oscar Party could be time-intensive and costly, given the list of ingredients--38 in all across the 9 drinks--and varied techniques for custom syrups and even a little molecular gastronomy behind the "milk foam" in the Beasts of the Southern Wild.

If you're ambitious enough to make all the drinks as is, by all means go for it, but this guide is an attempt to help downsize the work and ingredients a bit while still offering a selection of awesome drinks. The first table lists all the ingredients the drinks call for.

Oscar Cocktails 2013: Table of All Ingredients

Drink	Spirit	Liqueur/other liquor	Syrup	Other ingredient	Garnish
Amour	Gin	Pear liqueur, Champagne (Sparkling wine)		Lemon juice	Lemon twist
Argo	Canadian whisky	Sweet vermouth	Cardamom	Orange juice	Orange peel
Beasts of the Southern Wild	Rye whiskey	Walnut liqueur	Roasted corn	Milk, milk foam	Nutmeg
Django Unchained	Bourbon		Peppercorn	Mint, club soda	Mint sprig
Les Misérables	London dry gin	St. Germain, ginger liqueur, Lillet Blanc			Lemon twist
Life of Pi	Light rum	Blue curaçao	Simple	Lime juice, fine sea salt	Orange twist
Lincoln	Smoked whiskey		Maple	Peychaud's bitters
Silver Linings Playbook	Silver tequila	Absinthe		Lime juice, Angostura bitters, ginger beer	Lime wheel
Zero Dark Thirty	Vodka	Green Chartreuse, coffee liqueur
Skyfall	Scotch	Lillet Blanc, ginger liqueur			Lemon twist

The second table lists the equipment, my judgement of each drink's difficulty and ideas for substitutions that consolidate ingredients across the drinks and cut down on the more challenging techniques.

For example, four of the cocktails call for whiskey, but each uses a different type: rye (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Canadian (Argo), bourbon (Django Unchained) and smoked (Lincoln). Although there are reasons for those choices, one good whiskey (bourbon or rye perhaps) could suffice for making all four drinks. And although the custom syrups give the drinks unique character, simple syrup could be used instead. And I won't fault you for using whipped cream instead of the milk foam.

Oscar Cocktails 2013: Table of Difficulty, Equipment and Simplifying substitutions

Drink	Difficulty	Glass	Equipment	Simplifying substitutions
Amour	Easy (pour, shake and mix)	Champagne flute	Shaker	Substitute a liqueur used in another drink, like St. Germain or ginger liqueur; use a less expensive sparkling wine than Champagne, such as prosecco.
Argo	Medium (make syrup, pour and shake)	Rocks	Shaker, sphere ice mold	Substitute simple syrup, use a different whiskey, use regular ice, omit bitters or use the same for the Lincoln.
Beasts of the Southern Wild	Hard (make syrup, milk foam requires time and special equipment)	Coupe	Shaker, baking sheet, saucepan, cream siphon	Substitute simple syrup (do not substitute regular corn syrup), use a different whiskey, substitute whipped cream for the milk foam.
Django Unchained	Medium (make syrup, muddle, pour and shake)	Highball	Shaker, saucepan, muddler	Substitute simple syrup (perhaps with a couple shakes of hot sauce), use a different whiskey.
Les Misérables	Easy (pour and shake)	Martini	Shaker	Substitute dry vermouth for Lillet Blanc, use different liqueurs from other drinks, such as Green Chartreuse or pear liqueur.
Life of Pi	Medium (salt rim, pour and shake)	Coupe	Shaker, small plate	Omit the salt rim.
Lincoln	Easy (pour and shake)	Coupe	Shaker	Use a different whiskey, use the same bitters as the Argo.
Silver Linings Playbook	Easy (pour and shake)	Rocks	Shaker	Substitute a liqueur used in another drink for the absinthe, such as Green Chartreuse or ginger liqueur (will make it really gingery).
Zero Dark Thirty	Hard (requires careful layering of ingredients)	Tall shot	Spoon	Substitute rum (from the Life of Pi) for the vodka. If layering fails it will still taste the same.
Skyfall	Easy (pour and shake)	Martini	Shaker	You could substitute whiskey for the scotch, although that really defeats the purpose of the drink.

Have fun, enjoy, drink responsibly and let me know if you make the drinks and what you think of them. Vote for your favorite Oscar Cocktail on Facebook.