ROB ROY: Ewan McGregor

It’s Burn’s Night and although a cocktail named after the bard exists (add a splash of Benédictine to this recipe), I prefer a basic Rob Roy afore attacking the haggis. Essentially, a scotch Manhattan, this 1894 creation marked the New York premiere of American composer Reginald De Koven’s operetta about the other famous McGregor clansman. Ewan has a new film to toast: but why choose Salmon Fishing in the Yemen rather than your native Perthshire? 

Make it... 

50ml Dewar’s (or other blended whisky), 25ml sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Stir with ice. Strain into a martini glass. Add lemon twist garnish. 

Drink it…Boisdale Belgravia, City or Canary Wharf; Tigerlily, Edinburgh; Oran Mor, Glasgow; The Arts House, Bristol. Masterofmalts.com has a pre-mixed malt version: 70cl (£29.95) onhttp://tinyurl.com/7cguq5k   

image(l) mcgregor.com

(r) euvs.org 

SCREAMING ORGASM: the cast of Geordie Shore

Promising more of the same trampy behaviour as before, the show that makes TOWIE look highbrow by comparison returns to MTV later this month. Expect screaming orgasms from the off. This 80’s hen night cocktail is considered so naff, it’s now positively ironic-iconic. Order one at your coolest local lounge just to noise up its sneery mixologist.    

Make it... 

Variations abound. I prefer 25ml each of Legend of Kremlin vodka, Bailey’s Original Luxardo Amaretto and Kahlúa stirred with ice and strained into a martini glass.

Drink it…Bacchanalia, Manchester; Orchard Bar, Falkirk; B@1 bars Londonwide www.beatone.co.uk and, of course, in Newcastle’s Bigg Market bars. PanAm, Liverpool promises a Screaming Multiple Orgasm (talk about cocky!)

photo: sarah.geek.nz 

MARY PICKFORD: Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo

Hit film The Artist is set in the Prohibition era. If George Valentin (Dujardin) and Peppy Miller (Bejo) fancied legal cocktails, they’d have high tailed it to Cuba where the liquor still flowed and the toast was Mary Pickford. This classic was invented at Havana’s Hotel Nacional for the queen of the silent screen while filming on the island with husband Douglas Fairbanks in the 1920s.

Make it... 

Take 35ml white rum, 35ml fresh pineapple juice, 1 tsp each maraschino liqueur and grenadine syrup. Shake with ice. Strain into a martini glass. Cherry garnish.

Drink it… Bar at The Dorchester, W1 www.thedorchester.com ; Ember Lounge, Manchester (guest list : 0161 278 1000); John Street Speakeasy, Glasgow www.speakeasyglasgow.co.uk; Door 34, Bath 01225 444770

BLUE LADY: Meryl Streep

How ironic! Womens magazine editors - who, as feminist students, would likely have gladly seen the then PM burned at the stake - are running fawning spreads based on Thatcher as fashion icon. Duncan Stirling and Charlie Gilkes's 80's-style Chelsea nightclub Maggie's (inspired by guess who?) has a new sharing cocktail called The Maggie's Head: the head, Arthur Scargill's (or Bob Crow's, for a contemporary twist) run through on a skewer as a garnish, hopefully. Yes, It's Maggie-mania! Raise a glass, then, to Left-leaning Ms Meryl Streep who, despite getting the walk totally wrong, turns in a creditable performance  as Baroness Thatcher, in The Iron Lady, a biopic that opens in cinemas nationwide this week. Despite its true blue credentials, this variant of 1920’s classic, White Lady, might get a bit of a hand-bagging if served to The Iron Lady herself. Maggie’s poison is whisky and, as we discovered,‘the lady is not for turning.’ 

Make it... 

Take 2 shots Plymouth gin, 1 shot each Blue Curaçao and lemon juice. Shake with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Orange peel garnish.

Drink it… at all good hotel bars such as The Grand in Brighton (where the IRA almost did for the old girl) and The Balmoral, Edinburgh (for now, still part of the Union she strove to keep intact). The ex-member for Finchley admires The Goring, London SW1 whose head barman Brian Kinsella provided this recipe.