Concluding my journey through 1985, I couldn’t resist a peek at the year’s Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Sydney Pollack’s Out of Africa (Disc/Download). Some might say this is not the best movie to watch when you’re already sweltering under a summer heat wave; however, I like to think of this as a how-to guide for surviving climate change—wear a lot of white linen, stock up on quinine, and make alfresco nighttime vinyl cocktail parties a thing.
Starring Meryl Streep as Karen von Blixen (the writer who would later go on to be published under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen) this is an epic tale of one woman’s struggle to live her best life, despite the incompetent men she’s forced to deal with on a daily basis. Sounds familiar, amiright ladies? Wealthy Karen signs herself up for a marriage-of-convenience that involves a ticket to Nairobi and a coffee farm she never really wanted. But still, she makes the best of it, forging a friendship with handsome safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford)- a friendship that later turns into a passionate romance. Confronted with war, fickle crops, male chauvinism, as well as a fun little bout of syphilis thanks to her deadbeat husband, Karen never loses her classy attitude. She’s all about crystal decanters, Victrola record players, Limoges, and fussy feminine decor, even while on safari. In other words, she basically invented glamping, and we should all bow down.
Because this movie is definitely not climate controlled, I think we need an icy cold beverage to get us through. There’s no greater summertime pleasure than a gin & tonic, so let’s combine the flavors of a G&T with Karen’s beleaguered coffee crop in this Spiked Coffee Tonic cocktail.
Spiked Coffee Tonic
1 oz Gin
1 ½ oz Espresso Cold Brew (canned)
2 oz Tonic
½ oz Brown Sugar Syrup (Combine 1:1 ratio brown sugar with water, blending until sugar is dissolved)
Dried Lemon Wheel (garnish)
Combine gin, cold brew, tonic, and syrup in a highball glass filled with large ice cubes. Stir until combined, then garnish with a dried lemon wheel.
It’s a little surprising to me that this won the Academy Award for Best Picture, given how lackluster the script is. But nevertheless, it’s worthwhile viewing, if only to watch Meryl master the Danish accent as well as those safari-chic fashions. Cheers!
Cinema Sips 