16 Famous Authors' Favorite Cocktails

Some of the world's most famous authors have also been among history's most notorious drinkers, who used alcohol to enhance their creativity, others to cope with writer's block, and still more to procrastinate completely. Many lived large and partied hard, but some veiled a fragile darker side with a few drinks when it suited, too. Without a little bit of liquid inspiration, their literary careers might have turned out quite differently.

Many celebrated writers have been purists when it came to picking their poison, taking their drinks neat, but an infamous few have enjoyed mixed drinks, either prepared themselves or ordered regularly at local watering holes. Whether these authors were drinking alone or partaking in regular discussions within literary circles, cocktails provided the catalyst for reflections that fueled many of their works. From the mint julep to the martini and far beyond, here are 16 famous authors' favorite cocktails.

Alexander Pushkin, the poet and playwright regarded as a founding father of Russian literature, had a soft spot for a uniquely Russian cocktail, Zhzhyonkza. A flaming upscale 19th-century jungle juice, this brew was a medley of various alcohols that started with wine as a base. The mixing process opted for both flair and flavor, with two swords crossed over a bowl of wine to balance a chunk of sugar. Brandy would then be poured over the top and set aflame, letting the sugar melt into the wine. A dash of Champagne was the finishing flourish before serving.

Though this Russian punch was deemed unlikely to intoxicate, it certainly had this effect on Pushkin. On one occasion, he and a few others consumed three bowls of Zhzhyonkza between them. The intoxicated poet ended up challenging a pair of military colonels to a duel after interfering with their game of billiards. Fortunately, a friend convinced everyone to drop the issue, enabling the poet to live on, drink more Russian punch, and continue writing his well-loved verse.

Feminist, philosopher, activist, and intellectual, Simone de Beauvoir was a prominent member of the French existentialist set. She dubbed this Parisian circle "The Mandarins" in a novel based on their intellectual lives, though her favorite mixed drink emphasized a different fruit. She was very fond of the apricot cocktails served as the house specialty at the bar Bec de Gaz on Rue Montparnasse. 

The Bec de Gaz was where this group of thinkers often met to sip drinks and talk shop, developing the philosophical framework for phenomenology, which emphasized the in-the-moment conscious individual experience of things — such as apricot cocktails — unburdened by preexisting ideologies. The recipe for the drinks that stirred up these avant-garde philosophical musings is sadly lost to time, but those early apricot-tinged days got the momentum rolling. Years after sipping those cocktails in Montparnasse, de Beauvoir wrote her most formative work, "The Second Sex," first published in 1949.

American author F. Scott Fitzgerald was the chronicler of the Jazz Age and maintained the 1920s go-lightly attitude towards drinking, in spite of Prohibition, for his entire life. Notorious for consuming gin, he claimed to prefer it because of the false notion that it couldn't be smelled on his breath. His favorite cocktail, fittingly, was the gin rickey — a highball cocktail made from gin and lime juice topped up with soda water. He wrote this drink into a crucial scene in his most famous novel, "The Great Gatsby," during which a group drinks gin rickeys with "long greedy swallows" on a hot afternoon in New York City.

When trying to limit his gin consumption, Fitzgerald reportedly claimed to have consumed 37 beers a day instead. But gin rickeys remained a decisive favorite, and alcohol in all forms was an integral aspect of Fitzgerald's creative process. His novels and short stories often took inspiration from the regular benders he was known for in New York, as well as living as an expat amongst fellow writers and artists in Paris and on the French Riviera. In later years, Fitzgerald dropped the rickey and consumed mostly straight gin. He sometimes kept a bottle of it in his pocket. 

While she had separate careers as a dancer and singer, Maya Angelou is best known for her writing, both poetry and memoirs. Her autobiography, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings," remains a poignant account of her growing up which touches on racism and sexual violence. Its contents make this book an important work of activism but are also why it has been systematically banned in certain regions of the United States. Nevertheless, Angelou's work has been honored — she received the National Medal of the Arts in 2000, and the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2010.  

Though unlike many of her contemporary writers who often consumed their alcohol socially, Angelou stated in an interview with The Paris Review that her favorite drink had a prominent role in writing her now revered works. But her cocktail of choice was more abstract than a literal mixed drink — she famously wrote with a bottle of sherry close by, even in the morning, which was always coupled with a legal pad, a bible, a thesaurus, and an ashtray.  

French author Victor Hugo is renowned for his epic and lengthy Romantic sagas highlighting the outcasts and lower classes of 19th-century French society, but his austere novels were a contrast to his inner party animal. The author of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Les Miserables" had a long list of mistresses and a fondness for alcohol, as well as an unusual party trick.

Hugo's trick was to stuff a whole orange into his mouth and fill in the gaps with as many lumps of sugar as he could fit. Then he'd swallow the whole mouthful and wash it down with a few glasses of kirsch, a strong cherry brandy. When not downed in one gulp, the combination would make for a decent cocktail — some hybrid bridging the gap between an Old-Fashioned and a Manhattan.

Encouraged from a young age to pursue her writing, New England poet Edna St. Vincent Millay got an early start, publishing her first poem at the age of fourteen. Though she wrote many plays and even some opera librettos, she is still best known for her poetry, for which she won a Pulitzer Prize in 1923. Her style was particular for its time, borrowing from traditional structures to dissect contemporary social themes. But Millay's reflective verse does not necessarily reflect her lifestyle, which evolved from quiet country living to raucous partying once she began life at university. 

Millay's favorite cocktail was reportedly a concoction called between the sheets — similar to a sidecar (made from cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon juice), but with the extra addition of white rum. It's a drink that packs a punch, though it remains unknown whether she preferred this mixture because of the unfounded belief that mixed liquors lead to greater intoxication. It's well documented, though, that she liked to be the life of the party. Among her own accounts, she was also known to consume a fair few gin rickeys, typically with breakfast, which she dutifully chronicled in her personal diary.

American novelist and short story writer Ernest Hemingway wrote and drank a lot, and in a very place-based manner. While he set stories in the regions he visited — from the bullfights in Spain to safaris on the Serengeti plains — he chose his cocktails based on the local mixology in the cities where he lived. His longtime favorite mixed drink was the daiquiri, at least during the twenty years he was based just outside Havana, Cuba. A daiquiri is usually made from white rum and lime juice, sweetened with a little sugar or simple syrup, but Hemingway's preferred cocktail recipe modified this Cuban specialty, mixing in a mere six drops of maraschino liqueur to replace any sweetener, and always with extra rum.

Hemingway is also frequently credited with the creation of a very different cocktail, one borrowing two tipples that were popular in Paris, Champagne and absinthe. Both very likely flowed freely during his younger years spent frequenting bars and bistros on the Left Bank. It's certainly possible that he could have been the first to mix the two together — tainting pure Champagne is not a particularly French custom. But the timelines are slightly questionable, as the mixture first appeared in a book of cocktail recipes in 1935, well after Hemingway had left Paris and moved on to other locations and libations. This strong, herby, two-ingredient cocktail does at least share the name of Hemingway's 1932 bullfight-centric novel, "Death in the Afternoon."

Best known for her short stories and Southern Gothic style, American author Flannery O'Connor was a devout Catholic who often formed her stories around characters' relationship with God. Because of her religious sensibilities, O'Connor did not typically imbibe alcohol, but she regularly consumed caffeine. Her drink of choice was an unusual, energy-boosting mocktail which aligned with her eccentric approach to life. The concoction consisted of mixing a cup of coffee into a Coca-Cola. 

Back when it was still being laced with cocaine in the late 19th century, Coke was promoted for its benefits as an intellectual stimulant. However, the original stimulant was removed from the recipe in 1901, and replaced with caffeine and lots of sugar to compensate. O'Connor didn't give any writerly reason for why she was fond of her Coca-Cola and coffee mixture. She just enjoyed the flavor combination. The heightened caffeine boost was probably conducive to churning out a few stories, too.

Beat generation novelist and poet Jack Kerouac is best known for his semi-autobiographical chronicles of trips across the United States. The most famous among them is the series of postwar misadventures featured in his 1957 novel, "On the Road." Despite crafting American myths and ideals with his typewriter, Kerouac also spent a considerable amount of time in Mexico. 

There, he wrote some shorter pieces set in the new landscape but also developed a taste for the local libation, tequila. Distilled from agave, it was different from the American liquors Kerouac was used to. Part and parcel with this spirit was the tangy margarita, though Kerouac's preferred version of the cocktail was considerably more minimalist than many modern renditions. Instead of the sweet, iced versions that are popular today, his take was a trinity of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. After his frequent visits to Mexico, Kerouac remained ever fond of the drink on both sides of the border.

Known for his poems filled with longing and gothic tales of mystery and horror, American author Edgar Allen Poe was as fond of liquor as he was of spinning scary yarns. His death remains an event out of one of his own tales of mystery; just before, he was hospitalized in a delirium for reasons still unknown. Some retrospective analyses, however, insist that Poe's fondness for drink was a contributing factor.

Whether or not that was the only contribution to the author's premature death, drinking was definitely one of Poe's pastimes. He certainly consumed many libations, but one that he particularly enjoyed indulging in was an incongruously cheery beverage. Poe loved his family recipe for homemade eggnog, and everything it was made of. This recipe had been passed down through generations since at least 1790, and contains copious amounts of cream and sugar, as well as 15 eggs — more than most other recipes call for. Mixed with brandy and rum, the Poe family eggnog makes for an especially potent holiday cocktail. Whether Poe consumed it beyond the holiday season remains another mystery.  

Northeastern-born Dorothy Parker excelled in many writing genres, from poems to short stories to screenplays and book reviews. She made an impression with her unparalleled wit and scathing social commentary, and had an equally established reputation for enjoying drinks too. She frequently had drinks at the Algonquin Hotel in New York, where she regularly convened with a group of fellow literaries who called themselves the Algonquin Round Table.

Despite Parker's rising fame as a literary figure at the height of Prohibition, this never stopped her or the other Round Table members from imbibing daily. While Parker was partial to straight whiskey and whiskey sours, she eventually became a celebrated voice in both Hollywood and the literary sphere and developed a taste for martinis, the classic version of which is a simple mix of gin and vermouth. Her reputation as a martini drinker was enough to earn her attribution for an oft-repeated witticism, though the Dorothy Parker Society has since claimed she probably never said it: "I like to have a Martini,
two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host."

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, William Faulkner was a master of the stream-of-consciousness style and set his stories in his home region of the American South. Faulkner's favorite cocktail also fittingly has roots in the same place. He was fond of the refreshing mint julep — a combination of the uniquely American taste of bourbon whiskey with fresh mint leaves, sweetened with simple syrup (and occasionally garnished with Angostura bitters).

Despite its much older origins in the Mediterranean, this drink was popularized in Virginia in the 1800s, retaining its Southern associations as the official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby. Evidence of Faulkner's preference for this classic drink is on display at his former home in Mississippi. Visitors can see his prized julep cup at Rowan Oak, which is now a museum dedicated to the author's life and works. 

According to some, another of Faulkner's preferred cocktails, especially for serving up to others, was the toddy. This drink is also made from the South's beloved bourbon as the primary ingredient. Mixed with lemon and sugar, Faulkner served it hot for family members when they were sick, and cold on sweltering summer days.

New England-born and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Anne Sexton was partial to a dry martini. She referenced this cocktail in a poem called Sylvia's Death. An ode to friend and fellow poet, Sylvia Plath, one refrain ends with the phrase, "the [death] we talked of so often each time we downed three extra-dry martinis in Boston."

Martinis, in this case, were Sexton and Plath's way of coping with the emotionally trying creative writing seminar they both audited at Boston University in 1959. After these intense workshops, they would ritualistically head to the Ritz-Carlton in town and down the aforementioned three extra-dry martinis each. The workshops were grueling because both poets were in the process of grappling with deeply personal subject matter in their writing, and they continued to discuss serious subjects while sipping their martinis. Though these Boston cocktail hours weren't particularly devil-may-care, they did occur on the regular. 

German-born Charles Bukowski emigrated to Los Angeles with his family when he was very young, leaving him to eventually assume the identity of an all-American author. His writing often featured frank portrayals of social taboos such as prostitution and gambling.

Bukowski was a regular customer at L.A. dive bars and drank heavily while he wrote. He was famously inebriated for a number of televised interviews as well, which only seemed to enhance his literary image. Though he consumed many forms of liquor in vast quantities on a daily basis, he is reputed to have preferred something called the boilermaker. A no-frills cocktail of sorts, it consists of a glass of beer enhanced with a shot of bourbon. Either served mixed together or one at a time, with beer typically consumed as the chaser, Bukowski's cocktail of choice sustains his mystique as an everyman's author. 

Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda has charmed many with his love poems. He could also make a wild cocktail, and favored one which was his own creation. In line with the romance which was one of his more famous writing subjects, Neruda called his cocktail El Coquetelon, "the flirt." No doubt it served as a social lubricant when all was whisked together — the mixture consisted of rum and cognac brandy mixed with orange juice and a coquettish splash of Cointreau.

While Neruda was especially partial to his own mixology, he was also vocal about enjoying the pisco sour. With a base of pisco brandy distilled from regional varieties of grapes, this drink is a South American take on the whiskey sour. It's typically made with citrus juice, sweetener, sometimes bitters, and frothed egg white on top. Generally considered a Peruvian specialty, it's also a national favorite, served without bitters, in neighboring Chile, Neruda's home country. 

Pivoting from a brief career as a spy for Charles II, Aphra Behn became an author of fiction, poetry, and plays. Born nearly a century after Shakespeare, she's believed to be the first Englishwoman to earn her living with her pen, but was equally renowned for her love of good drink. Since her own writing is the first recorded instance of milk punch, she is often credited with inventing this smooth, boozy beverage. Even if it was already a popular cocktail in the 17th century, Behn certainly consumed a lot of it, and it was her favorite for serving at parties.

With a base of brandy, the libation's name comes from the rest of its ingredients — milk curdled with lemon juice. The combination may not sound appealing, but a chemistry reaction between dairy, acid, and alcohol separates the milk fat and removes the color and bitterness. After straining the concoction, the result is a clear beverage that's dangerously sippable. Behn's cocktail of choice isn't merely a drink of centuries past, either, as milk punch is making a comeback.