Paul Feigalready has a reputation for being a debonair gentleman with a goofy heart.
So it was no surprise that he carried that ethos over into quarantine.
After 100 episodes, Feig has hung up his cocktail shaker.
Credit: Don Arnold/Getty Images
So take that glass out of the freezer, pour yourself a stiff one, and drink up.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So quarantine starts and people are making cocktails.
So I just started doing it and pulled my poor wife Laurie into it.
Unless we go into full lockdown again, and I would go back to doing it every day.
You started with the Feigtini, your version of the Quarantini, and took off from there.
How did you choose which drinks to feature?
I collect cocktail books.
Over the years, they were just fun things to read.
It’s relaxing for me.
So, ironically, it wasn’t that hard to find 100 drinks.
You and I share a deep love of gin.
Was it a struggle not to just do 100 gin cocktails?
I’m a gin fanatic.
We’ve been putting this gin together for two years now.
Because of that, we pulled everything back.
Similarly, how did you choose all the charities?
When this started up, I was like I should really be doing things for COVID response.
You feel helpless sometimes; you’re just posting things on social media and all that.
Do you think this is the ideal moment for the art of the cocktail?
Cocktails are such a great thing in that way.
This should go in a nice glass because I made it.
That’s a plus right there.
You have adorable nicknames for all your bar tools.
Did you just invent them on the fly?
After 50 shows in, you start going, “I need more stuff to do.”
You start to go a little nuts.
I think it’s this combination of cabin fever and then also just really dumb dad comedy.
How do you find the perfect song to accompany your cocktail shaking?
I always want to do songs that are really upbeat and fun.
Dance songs are always the best.
There’s a certain rhythm to shaking, and you start to find it.
It’s like working out to the right song that keeps you in step.
You have an incredibly robust at-home bar, from various liquors to all the tools.
What would be your advice for beginners trying to build up their own bars?
I’m just right now writing the chapter about how to set up a bar.
You need the basic equipment of a shaker and a good jigger, a measuring thing.
If you got those three, you’re in pretty good shape.
Then you want the basics of gin, vodka, vermouth.
You want bourbon and whiskey.
It’s very easy to expand unless you just like these three drinks.
But the more you start to dive in, it is a slippery slope.
It’s like getting one tattoo and suddenly you’re covered in tattoos.
We have 100 plus recipes.
I invented like four or five cocktails during the time.
Here’s the thing: I am not a cocktail expert by any stretch of the imagination.
My expertise is so limited.
I want everybody to enjoy this.
I want to bring back cocktail culture.
Did you have any favorite drink discoveries, or conversely, things you thought really were terrible?
Honestly, Laurie was always the one who has a discerning palate.
I’m sort of famous on the show for really liking anything.
Our biggest disaster was this thing called the Hot Pants.
It’s tequila with peppermint schnapps, and it’s absolutely awful.
That was one I couldn’t even go, “Well, it’s not so bad.”
This doesn’t go with this, but this together actually can go somewhere."
I actually just invented a new drink last night that I’m really excited about.
Shake it up really hard.
Pour it into a glass and then sprinkle cinnamon on top.
It’s the greatest dessert drink.
Now that you’re making your own, would you want to do cocktails themed to your filmography?
I think now I will.
Now, something I want to definitely do is come up with these cocktails.
I enjoy this as much as I enjoy making movies.
