This special episode of Happy Hour Film Club is Bartender's Choice! That means our resident cocktail crafter gets to pick the movie this time, and Nick brought us the Tom Cruise classic, Cocktail. But is it all cocktails and dreams as we visit the New York City flash bartending scene of the late 1980's? Well, you'll have to listen to find out. So make yourself an Alabama Slammer and let's talk Cocktail! Recipe below. 

Alabama Slammer 

- 1 oz Southern Comfort

- 1 oz sloe gin

- 1 oz amaretto liqueur 

- 2 oz orange juice, freshly squeezed

- Garnish: orange wedge

Instructions:

1. Add Southern Comfort, gin, amaretto and orange juice to a shaker with ice and shake until chilled

2. Strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Or, if serving as a shot, divide among shot glasses

3. Garnish with an orange wedge 

Get familiar with the obscure…animation, that is! Riley and Taylor watch their favorite obscure animated films - The Thief and the Cobbler (or is it?) and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas - while Nick makes an obscure cocktail. Don't miss you again on these hidden gems. Cheers!

The White Lady:  - 2 oz dry gin - 0.5 oz triple sec - 0.5 oz lime juice  Instructions:  - add gin, triple sec, and lime juice into a shaker with ice - shake for 30 seconds - strain into a glass of choice

February is Taylor and Riley's least favorite month of the year, but there's no denying that love is in the air. Tune in for our Valentine's release - The Season of Love. We're featuring not one, but TWO Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan hits - You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. 

Grab your passports, because we are hopping over the pond to jolly old England. In this week's episode Taylor and Riley are exploring the criminal underworld of London with the gangster film, Legend and the Agatha Christie inspired whodunit, See How They Run. Joining this criminal escapade is Nick with a very tart and fizzy mocktail. Cheers!

Citrus Fizz Mocktail  

- 2 oz orange juice 

- 2 oz lemon juice 

- 1 oz lime juice 

- 0.5 oz grenadine 

- 1 egg white 

- 4 oz sparkling water 

- (optional) Garnish: Orange slice  

Instructions:  

- Add orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, grenadine, and egg white into a shaker 

- Dry shake the ingredients for 60 seconds 

- Add ice and shake for another 30 seconds 

- Strain drink into a glass 

- Top with sparkling water 

- (optional): garnish with orange slice

Join Taylor, Nick, and Riley as they talk about some of their favorite movies watched in 2022,  and what new films coming out in 2023 are at the top of their radar! We've also got TWO yummy drinks on the menu this episode: mimosas and Negroni Sbagliatos. 

A very happy New Year to you from the Happy Hour Film Club crew! 

We all know the power of wishes, and cinema loves to tell wish stories. They can be inspirational or cautionary, and Taylor and Riley have chosen two fantastical films to showcase in this episode. There's the story of Florence Foster Jenkins who wishes to perform at Carnegie Hall, and then we have the story of Three Thousand Years of Longing where wishes might just cause more harm than good. Our wish is that you love these two movies as much as we did! And, of course, Nick has made us a very punny cocktail - The "Djinn" Sour. Cheers!

"Djinn" Sour  

- 2 ounces London dry gin 

- 1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed 

- 1/2 ounce simple syrup 

- 1/2 ounce egg white or aquafaba (optional) 

- Garnish: lemon twist (optional) 

- Garnish: 3 drops Angostura bitters (optional)  

Steps

 - Add the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white or aquafaba into a shaker and vigorously dry-shake (without ice). 

- Add ice and shake again until well-chilled. 

- Strain into a coupe glass. 

- Garnish with a lemon twist.

It might be a new genre of movie - Netflix certainly seems to think so - the Hallmark Christmas movie. I know I know, you're asking yourself why we chose to skip all the timeless seasonal classics. But you already know those by heart and so do we. Taylor and Riley dive into some lesser known (maybe for a reason) holiday films to heat things up this winter, so grab your eggnog and settle in for two not-so-classic Christmas movies - A Castle for Christmas and Falling for Christmas. 

Eggnog Recipe: 

It's just eggnog. And booze. 

Our theme this week is football! Whether you're a fan of the gridiron or the beautiful game, we got the football films for you, Taylor and Riley talk about Silver Linings Playbook and Victory. No matter how you play football, there's a football film (and cocktail) for everyone.

Recipe:

- 1.5 oz whiskey

- 1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

- 1/2 oz honey simple syrup

- 2-4 oz ginger ale 

Instructions:

- Pour whiskey into cocktail shaker filled with ice. 

- Add lemon juice and honey simple syrup and shake well. 

- Pour into glass filled with ice.

- Top with ginger ale and garnish with a lemon slice. 

It's witching season and Taylor and Riley have their three favorite spooky sisters to chat about on this week's episode! Grab your broomsticks (or rhumbas) and settle in for this Hocus Pocus double feature. 

Jean Jacket aka The Shish-ka-Baby: