kulwicky.com: Gregory Peck Cocktails

gregroy peck cocktails

Today we mark the 100th birthday of Gregory Peck, Academy Award-winning American actor, born on April 5, 1916. Peck is generally regarded as one of Hollywood’s greatest actors and his film credits include such classics as: To Kill a Mockingbird, Moby Dick, The Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear, How the West Was Won, The Omen, and The Boys from Brazil.

Raise a glass to his memory with one of the drinks from our collection of Gregory Peck Cocktails!

Gregory Peck Drinking Trivia:

Gregory Peck was a heavy drinker during his time as a young actor in Hollywood. While filming David and Bathsheba in 1949 he was hospitalized with heart spasms and many suspected that he had a heart attack. It turned out to be heart palpitations brought on by lifestyle and overwork, but Peck nevertheless curtailed his drinking afterwards.
Guinness was Peck’s favorite drink and he drank it almost every day. This eventually led him to have a dedicated Guinness tap installed in the bar at his home.
In Cockney Rhyming Slang, “Gregory Peck” is used as the for neck (as used traditionally by the inhabitants of East London), so the expression “Get it down your Gregory” means “Drink this!”.

Gregory Peck Cocktails:

The Devil’s Dagger

Created by Timmy Kitchens, of the West Hollywood’s Rock & Reilly’s, adapted from Max Stirner’s Five Hundred Movie Drinks and Cocktails.

This drink gets its name from the stabbing scene from Peck’s 1976 film, “The Omen” where his character, American diplomat Robert Thorn, attempts to kill his demonic adopted son, Damien with seven mystical daggers. Kitchens, the creator of this drink comments: “If only Robert and Damien had discussed their differences over this cocktail, maybe they would have both lived.”

1 1/2 oz. cherry vodka
3/4 oz. cherry brandy
1/2 oz. benedictine
1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
Soda water

Pour all ingredients but or the soda water into an ice-filled shaker, shake and strain into an ice-filled collins glass, top with soda water.

The Gimlet

This classic drink was featured in the 1952’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro, where it is enjoyed on screen by stars Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. Oddly enough, this is a year before the Gimlet rose became super-popular due to its inclusion in Raymond Chandler’s 1953 Philip Marlowe novel, The Long Goodbye.

This is one of the only drinks where you MUST use the Rose’s preserved lime juice instead of fresh. Old-time Gimlet connoisseurs demand the original formula and may be alienated if you get all precious and play around with it too much. To quote Chandler: “A real Gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats martinis hollow.”

Adapted from Hemingway & Bailey’s Bartending Guide.

2 oz. gin
1 oz. Rose’s Lime Juice
Garnish: Lime wedge

Pour gin and lime juice into a mixing glass filled with ice cubes. Stir well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime wedge. The Gimlet can also be served on the rocks in an Old-Fashioned glass.

Tequila Mockingbird #1

Inspired by Harper Lee’s novel this drink emerged sometime in the 1960s.

Recipe adapted from Difford’s Guide

1 1/2 oz tequila
3/4 oz green creme de menthe
juice of 1 lime

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into cocktail glass.

Tequila Mockingbird #2

A more modern, and perhaps more palatable take on the Mockingbird theme.

Recipe by Greg Seider, adapted from Liquor.com.

1 Jalapeño pepper slice
2 oz Patrón Silver Tequila
1.5 oz Watermelon-Basil Purée
.75 oz Fresh lime juice
.75 oz Agave syrup (one part agave nectar, one part water)

In a shaker, muddle the jalapeño slice. Add the remaining ingredients and fill with ice. Shake for 10 seconds and double strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.