Drinking Gold at the Emmys (Recipe Included!)

Before the 65th Annual Primetime Emmys this Sunday there are, of course, the pre-parties. One of the most lavish is the one thrown at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills every year by HBO for the actors in their nominated (and other) shows such as Girls, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and The Newsroom.

Celebrities who swing by the “HBO Luxury Lounge Featuring Motorola and Pandora” this weekend can pick up electronics, jewelry, cologne, expensive shades and very fancy sweatpants, as well as get their nails and makeup did.

The annual soiree without specialty cocktails would be like a Lannister without a bloodstained sword and a libidinous sister. This year the liquor sponsor, Baileys Irish Cream, has decided to be a little less ostentatious and is using pure gold as the featured ingredient. (Leave it to the Irish to go for subtlety.)

The cocktails, with such monikers as the Rich & Famous, the Sweet & Vicious and the Glamour Shot, all include edible gold in the form of rims doused in gold flakes and thin sheets of gold floating in liquor and draped over strawberries. Cherries are stabbed with gold cocktail picks, of course.

Gold has been the consumable of choice among douchebags throughout history. Fed-up Mayans poured the molten version down conquistadors' throats. Original cougar Diane de Poitiers, mistress of the 16th century's Henry II of France, drank it to keep herself youthful (perhaps not the best idea). Renaissance feasters loved it, as do modern-day Arabs. Russians prefer it on their caviar and New Yorkers like it on their truffle burgers.

Unless consumed in great quantities, pure gold is perfectly safe to eat, and you can pick edible gold up at your local “gourmet supply” store. Homeopaths have prescribed gold as a treatment for heart disease, arthritis, depression and other ailments for hundreds of years, but homeopaths do a lot of funny things. Edible gold is not absorbed into the bloodstream and passes out of the body after about 24 hours unchanged.

You may never have the opportunity to grasp a golden statuette of a lady with lightning bolts hitting her in the back while she holds up a ball of yarn. However, you can drink the exact same cocktail that maybe, just maybe, Joe Manginello will be tossing back in that big strong werewolf arm this weekend while he picks out some really expensive sweatpants and a festive wireless mouse.

Turn the page for your very own gold cocktail recipe…

The Glamour Shot(s); Credit: Baileys

The Glamour Shot

From: Baileys

Makes: 1 drink

1 ounce Baileys Vanilla Cinnamon Liqueur

1/2 ounce Goldschläger Cinnamon Schnapps

Edible gold flakes for garnish

1. Rim a cordial glass with edible gold flakes.

2. Add Baileys Vanilla Cinnamon and Goldschläger Cinnamon Schnapps to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.

3. Strain into cordial glass rimmed with gold flakes.

4. Feel fancy.

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