Dua Lipa Matches Cocktails to Her Very Favorite Songs in ‘Tasting Notes’

Here’s a fun one: In a twist on our Toast to Cinema series, we asked pop star Dua Lipa to make cocktails inspired by her favorite songs.

So, what did she have on her menu? Up first, a dirty vodka martini (hold the vermouth!), inspired by fellow British icon Sade’s “Smooth Operator.” “When a martini’s good, it just hits—it’s smooth, it’s delicious, and listening to Sade at the same time feels like the perfect moment,” Lipa explains. (That sounds about right to us.) Up next was a twist on a White Russian, inspired by Lipa’s own song “Houdini,” the first single from her third album, Radical Optimism. “The good thing about this is everything happens in the glass. Less washing up, more fun,” the ever-efficient Lipa observes. (The special ingredients? A dash of Sambuca and, in addition to the Kahlúa, a chilled espresso shot.) And the drink, like the club-ready song, has “all the energy you need in a day.”

The third drink in the mix is a highball, inspired by Lipa’s “dear friend” Elton John’s classic hit “Benny and the Jets.” Her explanation for the pairing? “I had this drink at Dodger Stadium when I was watching Elton do his show there the night before I performed with him.” John kicked off the set with “Benny and the Jets,” from his 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, “and nothing gave me more chills than that moment,” Lipa recalls. Honestly, we’re feeling them too—and we don’t even have a frosty highball in hand!

For more of Lipa’s inspired pairings (a paloma for “Sweet Dreams”! A basil smash for “Toxic”! A margarita for Madonna’s “Frozen”!)—and more wonderful stories from her life as a fun-loving global pop star—watch the full video up above.

Director: Gabrielle Reich
Director Of Photography: Andrew Amine
Editor: Michael Suyeda

Producer: Rahel Gebreyes
Producer, On Set: Michelle Bruno
Associate Producer: Lea Donenberg
Mixologist: Nathalie Durrieu
Assistant Camera: Stephen Cullina
Gaffer: Adam Reichardt
Audio: Tony Charles
Production Assistant: Myles Haywood

Production Coordinator: Tanía Jones
Production Manager: Kristen Helmick
Line Producer: Natasha Soto-Albors

Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Post Production Coordinator: Holly Frew
Supervising Editor: Kameron Key
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch

Global Entertainment Director: Sergio Kletnoy
Executive Producer: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Video: Romy van den Broeke
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
VP, Video Programming: Thespena Guatieri

Filmed on Location: Casa Cipriani New York