Four: Jaws (1975)

Throughout my whole life, I have spent the summers boating, wakeboarding, and skiing with my family. Nothing quite brought me joy like playing on the river all day. That was until the age of ten when I wholly ruined the next few years of water fun by watching a movie that has since traumatized me in more ways than one.

Jaws is the unlikely tale of a young boy becoming friends with a beautiful orca, eventually helping him jump out of his containment, freeing him to live out his life… Wait... Nope. That’s a different movie.

Jaws: the tale of some dumb townspeople on Amity Island receiving mouth hugs from a very hungry shark. This was one of the first horror movies I watched and seeing all of these helpless people get ripped to shreds by a submerged animatronic gave me a laundry list of phobias. Submechanophobia, Thalassophobia, Automatonophobia (specifically with animatronics). Shall I continue? I’d rather not because when you look up these words on Google, it shows suggested images, and it is paining me.

I digress……

In 1975, Steven Spielberg gave us an objective masterpiece. While it genuinely did horrify me as a child, I love this movie with my whole heart and soul. I know I’m not alone in this because, at the time of writing this sentence, Jaws has returned to theaters in IMAX with a (re)opening weekend of over $3 million. From Finding Nemo to Sharknado and even amusement park rides; Jaws was a film that entirely changed the entertainment landscape of the world.

You know this movie; you love this movie. Now, let’s drink in a similar fashion to our dear Captain Quint. Robert Shaw, the actor who portrayed Quint, was nearly blackout drunk for the entirety of the production. His famous Indianapolis Speech was done several strong cocktails in. When asked how he made it through the long days of filming, half submerged and trapped inside of animatronic shark's jaws, he replied simply “Scotch, vodka, gin, whatever.” Sounds like a man after my own heart. Call it a Shark Bite riff, call it a Long Island riff (Amity Island was a strong contender for the name) … I just call it:

Blood In the Water

• 0.75 oz Tito’s Vodka

• 0.75 oz Beefeater Gin

• 0.25 oz Drambuie (Scotch & honey based liqueur)

• 0.25 oz Blue Curaçao

• 0.5 oz Lemon Juice

• 0.5 oz Honey Syrup*

• 3 Drops of Blue Food Coloring

• 3-5 drops of Cranberry Juice

• Shark Shaped Gummy Candy

• Soda Water
  

In a cocktail shaker, combine Tito’s, Beefeater, Drambuie, Blue Curaçao, Lemon Juice, Honey Syrup, and Blue Food Coloring. Shake over ice and double strain over fresh ice in a Collins Glass. Top with 3-4 oz of Soda Water. Garnish with a vicious (and delicious) gummy shark. Float 3-4 drops of Cranberry Juice on the surface to resemble bloody water.

*Honey syrup is made with a simple one-to-one ratio of honey and hot water. Doing so allows the honey to be full incorporated into cocktails better.