Tom Hanks' Favorite Cocktail Is Made With...Diet Coke?!
Diet Coke is one of the most polarizing sodas on the market, but continues to maintain a devoted following of diehard fans. Many enjoy drinking Diet Coke for its low sugar and calorie content. Others prefer the taste of aspartame over the corn syrup found in original Coca-Cola. No matter why people choose to drink Diet Coke, odds are you'll see some of fans sipping on a can at any time of day.
Beloved actor Tom Hanks is no exception. When he's not drinking coffee from his own line of beans, he's enjoying a can of sugar-free soda. "I'm not a big drinker, so I usually have a Diet Coke," he told Stephen Colbert on an episode of The Late Show this week. "And I sip that through the night."
Hanks was sticking to his usual evening beverage while at New York restaurant Café Carlyle over the holidays. However, when the servers brought out a bottle of celebratory Champagne, the Oscar-winning actor came up with a brilliant idea.
"They brought the champagne around, they brought the nice flutes," he said. "I just had this Diet Coke. And I said, 'Oh, give me a shot of champagne in there, for crying out loud.'"
His family doubted him and his makeshift cocktail, but the Diet Coke and Champagne combo became an instant hit.
Hanks guided Colbert through the process of making the drink, and it couldn't be easier. To a glass filled with ice, you combine one part Diet Coke and two parts Champagne. If you prefer other brands of cola, you can easily swap those in—but Hanks insists that it needs to be diet.
The actor, who has Type 2 diabetes, joked, "What's better [for] Type 2 diabetes than a little shot of champagne in your Diet Coke?" The cocktail is bright, refreshing, and effervescent.
Colbert tried some and said it's "strangely, strikingly, shamefully good. He compared the cocktail to an American Aperol spritz, proposed naming the beverage after the actor. Hanks came up with a more ingenious title: the Diet Cokagne.
With a relatively small amount of alcohol, the Diet Cokagne is a perfect beverage to sip if you're celebrating Damp January. We could also see Diet Coke make appearances in other cocktails—like an extra caffeinated espresso martini, perhaps?
Have you tried this cocktail yet? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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