We’ll all be weeping into our glasses tonight after the seventh and final season of Mad Men graces the small screen. Matthew Weiner and company have kept us guessing about the fate of our favorite characters, but its been firmly established that Mad Men’s players love a classic cocktail. We’ve curated a selection of fine libations for your drinking pleasure, matching some classic bevvies with the Mad Men and Women we love. Cheers to a fantastic seven seasons of television!
Betty Francis
The lemon kick of the Tom Collins will give you the business and make you grit your teeth, but it has a sweet side — just like Betty.
Tom Collins .75 oz Fresh lemon juice .75 oz Simple syrup (one part water, one part sugar) 1.5 oz Gin Club soda Lemon wheel garnish or cherry
Add the lemon juice, simple syrup and gin to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake well and strain into a highball or Collins glass filled with fresh ice. Top with club soda and garnish with a lemon wheel and a cherry
Sally Draper
The Big Lebowski’s Dude has dibs on the White Russian in pop culture, but we don’t think he’d mind sharing it with a philosophical-minded Sally Draper. It’s a drink that’s still a touch innocent due to the addition of cream, but the vodka and coffee liqueur tells you that this cocktail had to grow up fast.
White Russian 1 1/2 ounces vodka 3/4 ounce Kahlua coffee liqueur 3/4 ounce cream
Pour the ingredients into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir well.
Joan Harris
Red, spicy, classic.
Bloody Mary 1 1⁄2 ounces vodka 3 ounces tomato juice 1 lemon, juice of 1⁄2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 3 drops Tabasco sauce pepper salt 1⁄4 teaspoon celery salt 1⁄2 tablespoon prepared horseradish (optional) garnish with lime wedges, lemon wedges, celery, green onions, or pickled green bean.
Rub lemon or lime around rim of glass and then put the rim in margarita salt or Tony Chachers, if desired. Add ice to glass. Mix Vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt, Pepper, celery salt and horseradish (if using) and pour in glass. Garnish with lemon or lime wedge, celery stalk, green onion or pickled green bean.
Don Draper
Some things, and people, never change.
Old Fashioned 1 scant teaspoon simple syrup 2 dashes Angostura Bitters, plus more to taste 1 half dollar–sized slice orange peel, including pith 2 ounces good-quality rye or bourbon 1 maraschino cherry
In old-fashioned glass, combine simple syrup and bitters. Fill glass halfway with ice, then stir about a dozen times. Add enough ice to fill glass. Squeeze orange peel over glass to extract oils, add peel to glass, and add whiskey. Stir just until drink is cold and alcoholic bite has softened, about a dozen times. Garnish with cherry, swizzle stick, and straw.
Roger Sterling
For the king of the zingers.
Stinger 2 ounces cognac or some other brandy 3/4 ounce white creme de menthe
Pour the cognac or brandy and crème de menthe into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a glass filled with crushed ice.
Shirley
It’s a bouquet of roses you can drink and don’t have to share with Peggy.
1.5 oz Hendrick’s Gin .75 oz Fresh lemon juice .5 oz Rose syrup 1.5 oz Fresh cucumber water
Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake well and strain into a tall glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a cucumber slice
Ken Cosgrove
A literary cocktail that’s eccentric enough to write a sci-fi novel.
Hemingway Daiquiri Ice 2 ounces white rum 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce fresh grapefruit juice 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur 1 lime wheel, for garnish (optional)
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the lime wheel and shake well. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with the lime wheel.
Megan Draper
Liberté, égalité, champagne.
French 75 1 oz. gin 1⁄2 oz. simple syrup 1⁄2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice Brut Champagne or a dry sparkling white wine Lemon twist, to garnish
Combine gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a glass. Top with Champagne and garnish with a lemon twist to serve.
Peggy Olson
If you can make it here, you’re gonna make it anywhere, Peggy.
Manhattan Ice 2 parts whiskey 1 part sweet vermouth 1 to 2 dashes bitters, such as Angostura Orange peel Real Maraschino Cherries
Place ice in a cocktail shaker. Add the whiskey, vermouth and bitters. Rub the orange peel around the rim of the cocktail glass. Strain the drink into the glass. Add 1 to 2 Real Maraschino Cherries and enjoy!
Real Maraschino Cherries: 1 cup maraschino liqueur 1 pint sour cherries, stemmed and pitted (in a pinch, you can buy a jar of sour cherries in light syrup, and drain the syrup) Bring the liqueur to a simmer, and then turn off the heat. Add the cherries, stir, let cool, and then pour into jars. Refrigerate. Cherries will be tasty for months.
Bert Cooper
Bert would want you to drink this while you admire Hokusai’s print of an octopus pleasuring a lady (aka The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife).
Japanese Cocktail 2 ounces Cognac 1/2 ounce orgeat 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice Dash of Angostura bitters Lime peel for garnish
Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime peel.
Pete Campbell
It’s all rainbows and kittens for Pete at the close of Mad Men, but we know there’s still a storm brewing in that bald noggin of his that will eventually bring the rain.
Dark ‘n Stormy 1.5 oz Gosling’s Black Seal Rum Stormy Ginger Beer or other ginger beer Garnish with lime wedge
Fill a tall glass with ice and add the rum. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wedge
Michael Ginsberg
Here’s hoping Ginsberg treats his body better in the future.
Bosom Caresser 4 cl (1.18 oz) Brandy 2 cl (0.59 oz) Curaçao, orange 1 dash (0.09 cl/0.03 oz) Grenadine 1 egg yolk
Pour the brandy, curacao, grenadine and egg yolk into a shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail or small wine glass. Sweet Madeira can be added to this recipe.
Harry Crane
For the guy who probably has unsavory ideas about what to do with his bottle of tanning oil.
Blue Hawaiian 1 fluid ounce light rum 1 fluid ounce blue Curacao liqueur 2 fluid ounces pineapple juice 1 fluid ounce cream of coconut 1 cup crushed ice 1 pineapple slice 1 maraschino cherry
Combine rum, blue Curacao, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and 1 cup crushed ice in blender. Puree on high speed until smooth. Pour into chilled highball glass. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a maraschino cherry.
Stan Rizzo
Ok, the Red Beard isn’t exactly a “classic,” but the beardy temptation was strong.
1/2 oz Cherry Vodka (Smirnoff Cherry) 1 oz Spiced Rum (Captain Morgan) Cola (Coca-Cola)
Add ice to a rocks glass. Add cherry vodka and spiced rum, and top with Coke. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Henry Francis
A politician’s cocktail that has roots in Washington, D.C.
Gin Rickey 1.5 oz Gin 1 Lime, cut in half Club soda
Fill a highball glass with ice and add the gin or bourbon. Juice the lime halves into the glass and drop in the juiced lime shells. Fill with club soda
Ted Chaough
A yellow twist on a classic that’s befitting of Ted’s cowardly ways.
Yellow Belly Martini 1 shot Ketel One Citroen 1 shot Pallini Limoncello 1 shot Freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/8 shot Sugar syrup (2 sugar to 1 water) 1/2 shot Chilled water (omit if wet ice)
Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain into chilled glass.
Dawn Chambers
For the Girl Friday who knows more than people gave her credit for.
Cosmopolitan 1 1/2 ounces vodka or citrus vodka 1 ounce Cointreau orange liqueur 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1/4 ounce cranberry juice Orange peel for garnish
Shake the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange peel.