We were delighted with the range of submissions we received, from the somewhat esoteric (the American in Paris featuring Bourbon and Chartreuse in a chilled champagne coupe) to the very expensive (the Driving Miss Daisy : make a daiquiri and hire someone to drive you around town while you sit in the back seat and comment on stuff).

But after much deliberation we are awarding Mike Jesson with our Best Best Picture Cocktail award for his recipe, below. We like that it's wine-based and even more so that it's a great wine ("Wine", after all, comes before "Spirits" in our store's name), and we like even more that it comes with choreography. After all, drinking is boring. Drinking and twirling? Now we're talking. Congratulations Mike, thanks for the suggestion, and we'll be contacting you shortly to arrange delivery of your prize. Start thinking: Bourbon, Cognac, or Rum?

The Sound of Music

* 4.5oz Austrian Riesling (the author recommends 2009 Alzinger Riesling Durnsteiner Federspiel)
* 1.5oz Chartreuse (we recommend yellow this time, so that it doesn't completely overpower the wine)

The preparation is simple: Drop one shot of Chartreuse into a cold glass of Austrian Riesling, drink quickly, then spin around in a circle. (Editor's note: if you're doing this with a group, have each person start yodeling when he or she finishes, and don't stop till the last person joins in. Now that's what I call music. 23.)

Whether you've been trekking through the snowy Ozarks or merely making Oscar-themed cocktails for two weeks, you may find yourself seeking comfort in the hair of the dog. Kingsley Amis, whom we've referred to in the past and whose writing is something of a Bhagavad Gita to Team Spirit, recommends hot Bovril and vodka for these mornings. If you, like me, had to look up Bovril, try this variation instead:

The Winter's Bone

• 6oz beef broth (alternatively, 6oz water and one beef boullion cube)
• 1.5oz Stolichnaya Gold vodka
• .5oz lemon
• Tabasco (to taste)

Heat the beef broth to a gentle simmer (considering your presumed state, you'll be forgiven for doing this in a microwave rather than a heavy-bottomed saucepan). Add the vodka, a squeeze of lemon, and a few dashes of Tabasco, stir it all up, and pour into a thick mug. If you're worried about this being boozy soup, remember that you can add a shot of vodka to gazpacho and call it a Bloody Mary. It's hearty, restorative, and fortifying. And hey, do you really have a problem with boozy soup?

• one 12oz can of beer
• juice of one key lime (approx. 1oz)
• hot sauce (to taste)
• 1 oz Chinaco Tequila Blanco

Pour the beer (we use Bud Light, but anything of similar heft will do) into a pint glass, add the key lime juice and a few dashes of hot sauce, then float the tequila on top. Drink at your own pace--this does not need to be chugged, but no one's going to judge you if you do. In some circles, this would be called a Michelada or a Boilermaker.

We call it Buzzed Lightbeer.

The Social Network Punch
(adapted from the United Service Punch as published in The Bar Tender's Guide by Jerry Thomas)

• 1/2 pint of Batavia-Arrack
• 1 pint Smith and Cross Jamaican Rum
• 1/2 lb sugar
• 6 lemons
• 3 pints hot tea

Add the zest from three lemons to the sugar and allow to sit for at least an hour so the sugar absorbs the essence of the lemon. (This can be done well ahead of time, as the lemon sugar will keep for months in an airtight container). Dissolve the sugar in the hot tea, add the juice of all six lemons, and both liquors. Allow the mixture to cool completely.

Serve the punch in a bowl over a big hunk of ice (made the night before by freezing a pint-size deli container or Tupperware filled with water.) Skip the ladle and glasses; rather, present a straw to each member of your Top 8, and get ready for some serious social networking!

127 Hours (aka Old Dry Bloody Rogue on the Rocks)

• 2.5oz Rogue Spirits Spruce Gin
• .5oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
• .5oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
• 4-5 dashes Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters

Combine Rogue gin and both dry and aged vermouths in a Nalgene cocktail shaker--seriously--over ice and stir till well-chilled. Strain into an old fashioned glass and add a good splatter of Blood Orange bitters. Can be served neat, though real climbers like it on the rocks.

Today's Oscar cocktail comes to us from a member of Team Spirit's extended family, Jeff St. Denis, who continues to deny having an Uncle Morey. Our idea for the King's Speech involved a lame attempt at a tongue twister, which I will spend the rest of the day trying to perfect. In the meantime, enjoy Jeff's recipe below. (As a measure of our appreciation, Jeff's getting a bottle of Redemption Rye AND Fee Brother's "The King's" Peach Bitters, compliments of Team Spirit. So, you know, bully for him.)

Any parent who has hosted a dinner party in the last 28 years has done so under the constant looming peril of a terrifying, Linda Blair-esque interruption (NSFW). That kid is not all right. The gracious host knows there's a delicious way to keep their little ones down for the count:

The Kids Are All Right

• 6oz milk
• Araku Coffee liqueur (as below)
• cocoa powder

Heat milk in a small saucepan until just simmering. Add Araku Coffee Liqueur by measure of one second's pour for every hour of adult time required. Araku's slow-pour top makes this easy. A quick game of Trivial Pursuit with the neighbors? Pour for two seconds (about .5oz). New Year's Eve party? Better make it 4 seconds. Going away for the weekend? You know what to do.

Pour the warm drink into a mug and dust with cocoa powder. Serve, and enjoy your night!

As much as we'd like to, Team Spirit can't take credit for The Inception. For this recipe, we're going all the way back to the first time one spiritous liquor was introduced to another, in the same glass. Sometime around 1830 Antoine Amadie Peychaud, the world's first mixologist, dressed up some French brandy with sugar, water, and a few dashes of his own proprietary brand of bitters, and the Sazerac was born. After yesterday's donnybrook of a cocktail, we could sure use something traditional.

The Fighter

• One 375ml bottle of Glen Thunder Corn Whiskey
• A glass

Pour one bottle of Glen Thunder Corn Whiskey in a glass. Drink all at once.

Begin fighting.

Like any cocktail enthusiast, we in the booze department at Crush (aka "Team Spirit") have a profound appreciation for the dramatic arts, which is why Oscar night is one of our most highly anticipated Sunday nights of the year.

This year, we've created 10 cocktails inspired by the 2011 Academy Award nominees for best picture. We'll be revealing them one by one until the big night is here. Enjoy!