With the COVID-19 pandemic subsiding over the past few years, and the recent Hollywood strikes fading on the horizon, the film industry has come back around with some bangers. From Palme d’Or winner Anora and A24 releases like Love Lies Bleeding to huge commercial films like Wicked and Gladiator II, 2024 was a solid year for movies. 2025 Oscar nominees include a diverse range of films, and we have a cocktail for some of the hits. Shake up and sip while watching the Oscars on March 2, 2025.
Cocktails For 2025’s Oscar Nominees and Winners
The Drop of Blood
Nosferatu is a retelling of the classic 1922 German horror film, nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Costume Design. If you loved Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise in the 2017 It adaptation, you’re in luck, because he’s back in the horror genre as vampire Count Orlok in Nosferatu. (Word on the street is that he goes full-frontal nude in the film, in case that’s on anyone’s mind…) This cocktail mimics blood with a grenadine-soaked rose and uses vodka and Cointreau for a strong libation. Take a sip, then take a nap in the official Nosferatu casket, provided you have $3,999 to spare.
The Activator
This cocktail gets its name and its ghoulish color from the liquid Activator that former pilates star Elisabeth Sparkle injects herself with in Coralie Fargeat’s body horror thriller, The Substance. Why does she do this? To obtain eternal youth. Fargeat’s film was one of the most experimental of this year’s Oscar lineup, and won for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
The “At Least Three Karats” Cosmo
This cocktail inspired by Anora is for the girls that know their worth. Mikey Madison, who stars as the title role, scored a Best Actress nomination this year. While we don’t want to pick favorites, this was my personal favorite of the Oscar films I saw. This cocktail is as glamorous as Ani herself, sweet but with a little bite. Anora won Best Picture and swept the ceremony with Best Acress and Best Original Screenplay.
Two Souls
Nickel Boys, up for Best Picture, is an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name about a brutal reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. This Two Souls cocktail is a darker version of a New York Sour. It gets its name from the close friendship at the center of the film and the ways the two boys help each other find resilience and strength in the face of systemic racism and abuse.
Caipirinha![]()
I’m Still Here, a Brazilian political drama with a standout performance by Fernanda Torres starring as dissident activist Eunice Paiva, was up for Best Picture. At the ceremony, it won Best International Feature. The caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil, is still sometimes thought of as a remedy for the common cold, but you can also find it at bars all around the country. Toast to freedom and strong liquor with this drink.
The Conclave Cocktail
Conclave is one of the year’s most exciting releases. The movie was nominated for Best Picture and won Best Adapted Screenplay. It’s easy to see why with its stark visuals, harrowing plot, and all-star cast with Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci, and Ralph Fiennes. Our Conclave Cocktail from bartender Jason Renner of Bar Marco brings to mind the mystery and intrigue of this film and its Italian setting. While you’re at it, try some of our Stanley Tucci recipes to celebrate Tucci’s presence in the movie.
Michelada
Like Best Picture nominee Emilia Pérez, this michelada is a little spicy and a little bloody. Just kidding! But not really…there is a lot of violence in this controversial movie starring Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofia Gascón. Combining beer with guava and hibiscus can be a bit risky, too. Zoe Saldaña scored Best Supporting Actress.
Sidecar
In The Brutalist, also nominated for Best Picture, architect and refugee László Tóth (Adrien Brody) and wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), sip on Cognac over philosophical conversation in the movie’s first act. Cognac is a key ingredient in a Sidecar, and we thought this illustrated the luxury and dignity of Brody’s performance and the Bauhaus-style buildings his character produces. The Academy agreed, because Brody won Best Actor.
Like A Rolling Stone
What can’t Timothée Chalamet do? Few actors have a range as broad as iconically macabre chocolatier Willy Wonka in Wonka, swashbuckling and suave yet flawed hero Paul Atreides in Dune, sensual Euro Summer boy-next-door type Elio in Call Me by Your Name, and now Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. This film, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound, and Best Costume Design proves that Chalamet can do it all. Our cocktail, Like A Rolling Stone, takes inspiration from Dylan’s turn towards electric instrumentations with electrifyingly zesty flavors.
Defying Gravity
This fall, anyone with eyes has seen Wicked merch. Even if you never see the movie, you can’t avoid it. Theater kids are becoming the dominant force in popular culture, and if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. While Wicked is a gorgeously shot and choreographed movie, brands gravitate towards it because of its clear aesthetic of greens and pinks. Our Defying Gravity absinthe and gin cocktail is more for the Elphabas of the world than the Glindas, because we support the underdogs. At The Oscars, however, Wicked was anything but an underdog, as the film has nominations for Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. In the end, it won Best Production Design and Best Costuming!
Rage
Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington star in this sequel to 2000’s original Gladiator, which sees Lucius return to Rome to seek revenge. The film was up for Best Costume Design at The 2025 Oscars. Whether you’ve watched the movie or not, who hasn’t felt some level of rage this year? It doesn’t even have to be about the election, no matter who you supported. There’s a lot to be pissed off about! Get some of it out by lighting this spicy cocktail on fire.
Paul Mescal’s Mezcal
If you, like me, often misspell Gladiator II‘s Paul Mescal’s name as “mezcal,” there is now a cocktail for you. The Irish actor is having a killer year, from late 2023’s emotional All of Us Strangers to 2024 SNL appearances and a starring role in Gladiator II. Our Paul Mescal’s Mezcal cocktail uses both Irish whiskey and mezcal to celebrate his achievements. A note for the concerned: his acting achievements have definitely been a conversation topic in our office, totally not his beautiful face. Who said that? Anyways, mezcal, whiskey, and lemon juice combine into a delicious cocktail.
The Bene Gesserit
This smoky, refined cocktail takes inspiration from the the mystery and intrigue of Dune’s mystical sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit, and combines bourbon and 1129 Ridge Ave Absinthe Rouge with Amaro Averna and Campari. Dune: Part Two was up for Best Picture, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.
Story by Emma Riva
Photography by Dave Bryce and Cody Baker
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