Updated December 31, 2025 at 7:07 AM PST
The holidays are a time of celebration, connection, and the cherished ritual of gathering with family and friends to eat — and maybe have a few drinks. So, with the end of 2025 just days away, All Things Considered is thinking about cocktails made famous in movies and how they may inspire your New Year's Eve drink choices — whether you'll be concocting drinks at your home with friends or ordering a beverage at your favorite bar.
Death & Co in Washington, D.C. — an offshoot of the bar's first location in New York City — is known for bespoke cocktails and a speakeasy design that's made it a District go-to. NPR's Tamara Keith visited the bar to chat with manager Josh White about the ingredients and recipes for some of the most iconic cocktails from popular movies. From a classic James Bond cocktail to the bar's own signature mix, these are the drinks you might want to try this New Year's Eve.
White Russian
Popularized by the 1998 Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski and its main character, The Dude, a White Russian is all about the heavy cream. Death & Co's White offered this recipe for the iconic cocktail.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz Vodka
- 1 oz Kahlua
- 1 oz Heavy Cream
Method: Short shake / strain
Glass: Double Old Fashioned
Garnish: None
Vesper
The Vesper martini is the preferred drink of James Bond throughout the spy movie franchise. But, unlike Bond, who always prefers his Vesper shaken, this version is stirred. Keith says ordering a Vesper shaken and not stirred is like ordering a steak from a chef well-done — you just don't do it. Lucky for us, White is very experienced.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz London Dry Gin
- 0.75 oz Vodka
- 0.5 oz Cocchi Americano
Method: Stir / strain
Glass: Nick & Nora
Garnish: Lemon Twist
Death Becomes Her
Named after the 1992 comedy starring Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep, the Death Becomes Her is White's very own creation. The Death Becomes Her is as elegant, classy and green as the lead characters in the drink's namesake movie. Varied and inventive ingredients go into this cocktail, providing a range of ways to make it sing. Follow the recipe below to give it a try.
Ingredients:
- 1 oz Ambrosia Almond & Rose Vodka
- 0.75 oz Fords Gin
- 0.25 oz Singani 63
- 1 oz Pistachio Orgeat
- 0.5 oz Pepita Orgeat
- 0.75 oz Lemon juice
- 0.5 oz Egg White
- Top w/ Soda Water
Method: Dry Shake / Shake / Strain / Top with soda
Glassware: Single Old Fashioned
Garnish: Rose Bud / Atomizer Rose Water
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