Here at Sommtable, we love a lot of things — and great cinema is surely one of them. We wanted to hit the pause button and take a second to take a look at Once Upon A Time In Hollywood; let’s have some fun pairing some of the film’s main characters to their embodied spirits. Pull up a seat and pour up your favorite cocktail.

As we all know, when a star studded cast of the likes of Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Burt Reynolds and Sharon Tate get together on a film, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood was instantly one of this summers’ must see films. Along with these talented actors came the dynamic duo of producer Marvin Schwarz teaming up with Quinten Tarantino; moviegoers hit the cinema in droves.

Without getting too much into the story of the film (we are doing our best for no spoilers), what makes amthis film truly unique is most of these characters are based off of real people. Hal Nedham, portrayed excellently by Brad Pitt, was a real life stuntman. As always with Tarantino films, there is a degree of exasperation; after all what would a film be without some dramatization. Without further ado, we at sommtable.com put together our very own spirit interpretation of, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

Rick Dalton / Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio has done it again. This time with arguably the most difficult role to play in the entire film. Rick Dalton was the fictional character Leonardo was entrusted to portray by Tarantino. By some stroke of luck, the film premises with Dalton being thrilled to learn the hottest starts in Hollywood have just moved in next door. As the Manson Murders serve as the backdrop for the film, DiCaprio and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, weave the changing landscape of 1960s Hollywood. This being the case, we had to bring in the right cocktail to pay tribute to this fictional masterpiece of a character. One of the oldest cocktails in existence, the Manhattan is as early as the 1870s. If that doesn’t place Rick Dalton on iconic status, we’re not sure anything will.

Bruce Dern / George Spahn

This is one of the most enigmatic characters in the entire film. How can one man be so many facets of a story without being the story itself? It was first discovered in a SPLASH YouTube interview the Dern would be playing, as they quoted: “The elderly, nearly blind rancher who famously allowed the Manson family to live on his California property.” What makes this character so interesting was, “According to legend, Spahn was responsible for bestowing soon-to-be-infamous nicknames on many of Manson’s followers, including “Tex” Watson and “Squeaky” Fromme.” With such an enigmatic aura somehow tied with such an infamous performance, we thought Spahn was best represented by an “Et Moi je Te Dis Maud.” A trio of armagnac, Chartreuse and maraschino that yields an enveloped, yet ambiguously tasty result.

Hal Nedham / Brad Pitt

Let’s be honest with ourselves. When dealing with Brad Pitt we have to remember it’s more than just the man, the myth and the legend. It’s the character that he is playing. Luckily for us, Hal Nedham’s character — based on the actual real life Hal Nedham –– is a character of Brad Pitt’s stature. So how do we find a cocktail that is suitable for both? We needed to find something that was at the same time, iconic but novel. We came up with the “Edgewater Beach,” a mixture of Jamaican rum, Italian vermouth, lemon, sugar, and orange bitters—along with one quarter of a preserved peach. Now doesn’t that sound delicious?

Bruce Lee / Mike Moh 

Anytime someone reads the name Bruce Lee, you should be excited. As truly one of the most iconic figures in Hollywood, the Hong Kong-American actor also worked as a stunt man, choreographing fight scenes for several films in the 1960s. Mike Moh portrayed Lee very well, but it was never going to be easy to find a spirit that homages the late and great Bruce Lee. That being said, we went ahead and dubbed the Jade Cocktail in honor of Lee. The Jade stone is considered the most valuable properties of Chinese culture — and not just in terms of money — the stone symoolizes the virtues of sincerity, loyalty, justice, wisdom and purity.

Wayne Maunder / Luke Perry

Wayne Maunder received his claim to fame from his prominent roles in Western television series. His role was quint essential in understanding the changes that were happening in what the film describes: peak-hippy-Hollywood. In 2019, there are a lot of reasons to suggest television has surpassed film as being the more prominent entertainment medium. But that is why it is so important to remember actors like Wayne Maunder and their Hollywood contributions. That is why we wanted to give Wayne the Gibson cocktail, which had its first cameo appearance in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 classic, “North by Northwest,” where an ad exec (Cary Grant) finds himself flirting inside a train car with the beautiful Eva Marie Saint. The Gibson, as Wayne Maunder, has a storied Hollywood history.

Jay Sebring / Emile Hirsch

It is no secret to history or anyone who has seen Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, that Jay Sebring is one of the five murder victims from the Polanski-Tate home. Sebring is known for revolutionizing the way men wore their hair, charging more than $50 for a haircut (in the 1960s mind you) to such clients as Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty, Jim Morrison, and Sammy Davis Jr.. Sebring is also one of the people responsible for helping to launch Bruce Lee’s film career. Emile is also an amazing actor who has played a myriad of award worthy roles. We wanted to give jay Sebring something out of what people now a-days call, Old Hollywood. So, we went ahead and dubbed him with the Brown Derby. The Brown Derby was born on Sunset Boulevard, as a vestige of 1930s glitz and glamour. The heady mix of bourbon, grapefruit and honey was created at Hollywood Reporter founder and playboy Billy Wilkerson’s Vendôme Club—one of the first celebrity-driven restaurants to appear on the Sunset Strip. If this drink doesn’t make you Hollywood, we don’t know what will. (SommTable Magazine)