Hoppy Ever After: Paul Feig x The Rake Cocktail Column

If you know anything about my work as a film director, you’ll know I love to make movies with great female leading characters. All my films, from Bridesmaids and Spy to my forthcoming Another Simple Favour, feature supremely talented women in three-dimensional roles. I fight to make sure they come off as fully developed individuals who are smart and funny and real and vulnerable yet strong — and contain all the other things that go into making us the wonderful, fully functioning humans we are. 

Yet over the course of my career, there have been guys who refer to my movies as ‘chick flicks’. I find the term hugely offensive because it involves writing off the characters and stories that my casts and I are telling as only appealing to women simply because my movies feature women, whereas any movie featuring a man as the lead is considered to be equally entertaining for both men and women. This writing- off of female-led films is disparaging to everyone involved, including the audiences who enjoy them. 

So why am I on my soapbox about this? Because this disparagement also happens in the cocktail world. All my life I’ve heard certain cocktails referred to as ‘lady drinks’. Anything slightly sweet or colourful or containing liqueurs is written off as something no ‘real man’ would imbibe. Now, I get that many people don’t like sweet drinks, and there are definitely some out there that can send you into diabetic shock after just one sip. But there are also some delicious, crowd-pleasing drinks that have been written off by men for decades, drinks they might find they would enjoy. 

One search on the internet under the subject of ‘lady drinks’ brings up cocktails that are unisex delights. Drinks like the whiskey sour, the Cosmopolitan, the daiquiri, the margarita and the French 75 are just a few of the unfairly flagged ‘alcoholic drinks for women’. Many of the lists even have the Old Fashioned on there! What’s a more gender-neutral booze bucket than that? 

The bottom line is that a cocktail is a cocktail. Either you like it or you don’t, no matter which set of chromosomes you have. There’s no judgment if you like a sweet drink any more than if you like a strong, bitter ass-kicker of a drink. It’s time to open your mind if it’s closed and treat yourself to some tasty new tipples that will make you leave all limiting labels behind. 

Throughout my career there have been guys who refer to my movies as ‘chick flicks’. I find the term hugely offensive.

I have a personal love of dessert drinks. The Brandy Alexander, the white Russian, the Parisian Blonde, the Golden Cadillac, and, yes, even the much-maligned Pink Squirrel are all delicious finales to a fine meal. The one thing these drinks have in common is that they contain dairy, usually in the form of heavy cream or milk. ‘Dairy in my cocktail?’ you gasp, recoiling as you clutch your manly pearls. Yes, you overdramatic boozer, it sounds wrong but it’s oh-so-right. Dairy combines nicely with both liquor and liqueur and creates a smooth sip that doesn’t hide the alcohol. If anything, it accentuates whatever spirits it mixes with. You’re lactose intolerant, you say? Well, join the club. But guess what? They make lactose-free heavy creams and milk that substitute  perfectly and save your significant other from a hellish night of being Dutch-ovened in your bed. 

Which brings me to the Grasshopper. 

Of all the drinks I make, this one is the consistent crowd-pleaser formenandwomenalike.Lowinalcoholandyetstillprovidinga nice kick, the Grasshopper is a minty glass of olde-timey fun. It’ll make you feel like you just polished off a steak and are waiting for your Bananas Foster at the Sands Hotel as the Rat Pack hit the stage. The best part is, it’s super-easy to make. Behold! 

Now, do you want to do your part to support women? Donate to the top-rated National Breast Cancer Foundation and really earn that lovely green cocktail. Cheers! 

Read the full story in Issue 98, available now.