The king of home mixology during COVID-19 – actor Stanley Tucci – is the new global brand partner for Tanqueray No.TEN.

“We’re thrilled to have welcomed Stanley Tucci to the Diageo family,” the drinks giant said. “With his at-home cocktail videos over the last year, no one has quite embodied the quarantini spirit like sophisticate Stanley Tucci.”

Tucci created a three-minute video of himself whipping up a Negroni last April and posted it on Instagram. It went viral and has since racked up more than 1 million views. He followed it with a series of cocktail tutorial throughout the year.

To kick off his partnership with Diageo, Stanley hosted a virtual bar last week, called TUCCI & NO.TEN: OPEN FOR ORDERS. Cocktails were freshly made by the actor and the Tanqueray team, then delivered straight to 100 lucky homes throughout the evening.

“Watch out for more from the partnership over the next two years,” Diageo teased. “Along with Stanley, we’re on a mission to make great-tasting cocktails easy to create at home.”

“I’m a big fan of a great tasting cocktail, using the expertise of the amazing bartenders across the world, and bringing that to life in your own living room,” Tucci said. “I can’t wait to show how people can experience the finest cocktails, when they take a fresh approach to their gin choice with Tanqueray No. Ten.”

His signature cocktail is his Grapefruit Marini, recipe below:

Tanqueray No Ten Grapefruit Martini

1.25 oz of Tanqueray No. TEN
1 oz of pink grapefruit juice
0.75oz of honey

Glassware: Coupe
Garnish: Grapefruit Twist

Method: Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until there is condensation on the outside of the tin. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist. Enjoy!

Tucci’s COVID class act

Tucci delighted fans throughout 2020 with his mixology. The actor started putting his spin on drinks April, when he taught his Instagram followers how to make his version of a Negroni, followed by social media tutorials on an Old Fashioned and a Margarita, then a Cosmo for Christmas.

Tucci told The Late Late Show host James Corden that he was surprised by the positive reaction to his cocktail making, revealing he does it every night at 5pm.

Chris Evans, who starred alongside Tucci in Captain America: The First Avenger, has confirmed his former co-star even does it on movie sets.

“On some (most) days after we finished filming on the first Captain America movie, Stanley would make us martinis in his trailer,” Evans tweeted. “He’s an absolute gem. However cool, fun, witty, and charming you think he is, double it and you’re halfway there.”

For Christmas, Tucci was playing host to his sister-in-law Emily Blunt and her husband John Krasinski. His take on the Cosmopolitan involved crushing pomegranate seeds in a cocktail shaker, adding Cointreau, cranberry juice, and pomegranate juice, vodka and ice, then adding a festive rim of sugar to the glass, together with a sprig of rosemary, one mint leaf, and a raspberry on a toothpick.

At the end of the video, Tucci and his family toasted with their drinks, with the actor telling fans to “stay safe and enjoy.”

In another clip, the actor mixes a drink for his wife, Felicity Blunt.

“I’d like to make you an Old Fashioned, would you like one?” he asks.

“I’d love one,” she replies.

“Good, cause it’s 11:30 in the morning and it’s about time to start,” he tells her with a smile.

When making his version of the cocktail, the actor quipped: “One is never too old to be in fashion”.

“This is a really great drink because it’s so simple,” he explained. “It’s basically bourbon, sugar water, Angostura bitters, a twist of lemon, and a twist of orange.”

As Tucci stirred the ingredients together, he explained the origin of the drink: “Now, supposedly, the story that I like about this drink is that there was this whiskey cocktail, but it was made in so many different ways that people started to request, ‘Can you please just make a whiskey cocktail the old-fashion way?’ And this is the old-fashioned way.”

And here’s his Margarita …

Tucci’s first cocktail video in the series offered a step-by-step guide to making a Negroni. It had followers swooning, watch it below:

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