What to Drink While Watching TV

Dan Saltzstein
De Gustibus
Published in
2 min readMay 3, 2016

This list is obviously incomplete. Tell me what I’m missing and we’ll all get drunk!

Game of Thrones: The drinkiest show on TV! Scotch feels right — rugged and manly. But really it should be Irish whiskey or Croatian rakia, since that’s where they film most of the show. (Now that I’ve written this, I’m gonna switch to Bushmills Black Bush — a northern Irish whiskey — asap. Or you could get some mead, but that’s not going to happen, is it?)

Better Call Saul: Tequila. ’Cause of that awesome scam scene. (Ditto Breaking Bad, preferably an añejo.)

Scandal: Wine, duh.

Walking Dead: Unless you are a cocktail heavy hitter, it’s waaaay too much work to be realistic, but: a Zombie.

Justified (RIP): Kentucky bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle if you’re a millionaire or a local chief deputy U.S. marshall. More likely Wild Turkey or Blanton’s.

Mad Men (RIP): Old-Fashioned is the obvious answer, but I’m going to go with a Manhattan if you’re a Don or a Peggy or a Martini if you’re a Roger or a Joan.

The Americans: Russian vodka or a Moscow Mule, if you don’t want to get really smashed and have a cool copper cup.

Orange Is the New Black: Uh… Pruno? (Tell me how it turned out!)

Veep: They are so stressed out ! So something boozy, maybe Everclear.

Downton Abbey (RIP): Vermouth. Pinky up.

Broad City: You probably don’t want to mix substances.

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Dan Saltzstein
De Gustibus

Editor at The New York Times Travel section. “It's a big world, and I really like it.” -- George Saunders, who can do no wrong.