Best cocktails for ‘Mad Men' finale

On Mad Men, everyone drinks, all the time. So it's not surprising that the libations featured throughout have permeated their way into our bar culture since the show premiered in 2007. Nostalgia for retro cocktails is in, says Erin Davey, the director of education and a head bartender at St. Petersburg bar the Mandarin Hide. 'Mad Men has inspired a lot of cocktail knowledge among bargoers,' Davey says.

When the show ends on Sunday, its story line will have spanned at least 10 years, from 1960 to somewhere around 1970. During that time, cocktails evolved along with the era, from stodgy-like-your-grandpa to silly-like-your-hippie neighbor. Here we've compiled three classic cocktails from different years throughout the show's run, perfect for serving at your Mad Men party or, if you're anything like adman Don Draper, for drinking any time of day.

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1960 - Old-Fashioned

The Old-Fashioned is Don's drink of choice, which isn't surprising. It's a classic American beverage, something Esquire once referred to as the 'manliest cocktail order.' It's slick, stiff and polished-looking, just like Don and much of the world in Mad Men's 1960-set first season. The recipe is simple: bourbon/whiskey, sugar, bitters, ice. It's often finished off with an orange or lemon peel, and sometimes garnished with a cherry. Davey says there's no exact recipe for the drink. 'It's more of an idea.' The Old-Fashioned is what Don is drinking in the very first scene of Mad Men's pilot episode; it would become ubiquitous on the show, and inspire a resurgence in the cocktail's popularity in actual bars. Davey says the Old-Fashioned is Mandarin Hide's second most-ordered cocktail.

½ teaspoon sugar (about 1 sugar cube's worth)

½ teaspoon water

2 to 4 dashes Angostura bitters

1 ½ ounces bourbon

1 cherry

1 (1-inch) piece of orange peel

Dissolve sugar and water in the bottom of a lowball glass. Add dashes of bitters, then add bourbon. Stir. Add 3 or 4 ice cubes and garnish with a cherry and an orange peel.

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1965 - White Russian

Mad Men's white-haired bon vivant Roger Sterling favors the White Russian, calling it his 'milk.' But don't be fooled: The sweetness of heavy cream and coffee liqueur have a tendency to mask the flavor of vodka in this cocktail, so it can pack a wallop. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first mention of the term White Russian was in 1965 in the Oakland Tribune. Making it is a cinch. Proportions can vary slightly, depending on how much you want to taste the alcohol, but Davey says a standard White Russian at the Mandarin Hide is equal parts vodka, coffee liqueur and milk or cream. 'Cream makes it especially decadent,' she says.

1 ounce vodka

1 ounce coffee liqueur

1 ounce heavy cream

Mix vodka and coffee liqueur in a lowball glass filled with ice. Add heavy cream on top; stir to combine.

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1970 - Harvey Wallbanger

The memorably named drink was all the rage in the early 1970s, the era in which Mad Men will come to an end. With its bright colors and Italian-made sweet herbal liqueur Galliano, it's a far cry from the sophisticated and put-together Old-Fashioned, just like 1970 was to 1960. Davey says if the '60s are an era in which there wasn't a whole lot of cocktail creation, the '70s were a rebellion against that. 'They were inventing drinks with funny names, made with more fruit juices, stuff that was easier to drink,' she says. Davey says the Mandarin Hide's take on the Wallbanger, a beer cocktail made with Grand Marnier and orange wheat beer, is also one of its top sellers.

1 ounce vodka

4 ounces orange juice

½ ounce Galliano liqueur

Mix vodka and orange juice in a tall glass filled with ice. Top with Galliano liqueur. Stir.