Dua Lipa Mixes Six Cocktails Inspired by Her Favorite Songs

A Dirty Vodka Martini for Sade's "Smooth Operator"

The first drink is a dirty vodka martini, paired with Sade's "Smooth Operator." Lipa makes it without vermouth, using only vodka and olive juice. She explains the pairing through the song's title: when a martini is good, "it just hits. It's smooth. It's delicious." Drinking one while listening to Sade feels to her like "the perfect moment."

Her connection to Sade comes from her parents, who love the singer and are the reason she listens to her. She calls Sade a British icon and names the album Love Deluxe as one of her favorite records of all time. She double-strains the martini so no ice chips get into the glass, which she describes as personal preference, and garnishes it with olives.

1:29

A White Russian Variation for Her Own "Houdini"

The second cocktail is her own take on a White Russian, paired with her song "Houdini." She points out that it's built entirely in the glass, which means "less washing up, more fun." She adds that she put in too much ice. The drink starts with vanilla vodka and Kahlúa. She then adds a small dash of sambuca for what she calls a "funky little taste." She says sambuca shots aren't for her because they remind her of "a terrible time in the club," but she likes it mixed into a drink.

Her "special ingredient" is espresso from a Nespresso capsule. She had planned ahead and chilled a shot beforehand, because she thinks the cocktail tastes much better when the espresso has cooled. Her favorite step is the cold foam on top. She puts creamer into a shaker with a single ice cube, so it doesn't get watered down, and shakes it while worrying the shaker might pop open. When she tastes the result, she admits she mostly got cream and probably missed the espresso. The cream is quite thick and is supposed to create a marbled look. She still calls it delicious and offers it to someone off camera, who agrees.

She gives some background on the song. "Houdini" came out in November 2023 as the first single from her third album, Radical Optimism, and she says it makes her want to dance at any time of day. She describes the pairing as a merging of worlds. The song gives you all the energy you need in a day, and a little White Russian leaves you wanting to dance. While the drink settles she jokes that her hair is "too perfect" for hair flips, so she's avoiding sudden movements.

4:14

A Whiskey Highball for Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets"

The third drink is a whiskey highball, paired with "Bennie and the Jets" by Elton John, whom she calls her dear friend. She likes the drink because it's quick, easy, and delicious. The pairing comes from a specific night. She drank a highball at Dodger Stadium while watching Elton's show there, the night before she performed with him. He opened with "Bennie and the Jets," and she says nothing had ever given her more chills. The piano stabs at the start of the song, she says, are "etched in my brain forever."

As she makes it, she stirs the whiskey with the ice so some ice melts into it, and finishes with lemon rind "for extra gorgeousness." She says she has loved Elton since she was very young. That makes it surreal for her to call him a friend, spend time with him, and work with him while still admiring him so deeply.

She tells how their collaboration developed. During lockdown she performed for Elton's foundation, which she describes as supporting AIDS research and prevention. He suggested that each of them pick one of the other's songs to sing together. They performed "Love Again" from her second album, Future Nostalgia, and "Bennie and the Jets." She calls it one of the most incredible moments of her life. Later she got a FaceTime call from David and Elton while she was by the pool in a bikini. They told her they had a song they thought would be perfect for the two of them. She heard "Cold Heart" in what she calls its "baby form" and said yes right away, describing it as a massive dream come true.

She also talks about Elton's style. She calls it unique, authentic, and true to himself: the big glasses, feathers, flared trousers, and everything bright and colorful. Every time she performed with him, she wanted to be at her very best. "I always dress up for Elton," she says.

6:40

A Paloma for Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams"

The fourth cocktail is a Paloma, paired with "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics. The idea came from a friend's recent birthday party. She had been drinking a lot of martinis, and at some point she wanted to switch to something fruitier, so she ordered a Paloma. In her view, the drink and the song do the same job: they give you a second wind during the night. As soon as you hear "Sweet Dreams," she says, you're ready to party all over again.

She makes the drink while admitting she keeps either forgetting the ice or doing things in the wrong order. She rubs lime juice on the glass and salts only half the rim, so that not every sip tastes salty. Partway through she sings the opening lines of the song. She adds only a little agave because she doesn't want the drink too sweet and thinks the grapefruit soda provides enough sweetness. She calls it a drink for any occasion, whether you're on a beach, at dinner, or out dancing.

This leads to a comment on work-life balance. She says she does what she loves every day, so it never feels like work, while acknowledging that this sounds like a cliché. Wherever she is, she tries to make the most of it. If she finishes work at 9 p.m., she'll go out for a drink or a nice dinner, whatever makes her feel a bit closer to the city she's in, which she says matters a lot to her.

8:59

A Basil Smash for Britney Spears's "Toxic"

The fifth drink is a basil smash, paired with Britney Spears's "Toxic." The connection comes from Kosovo. Every summer, she says, her family puts on a festival there. One year a man who makes excellent cocktails kept insisting on making her this drink, and the basil smash ended up as, in her words, the soundtrack to her night.

The drink is gin, lemon juice, a small amount of simple syrup, and a lot of basil. She connects it to the mood she's in late at night, which she describes as silly, giggly, and fun, and says she needs to hear "Toxic" at the end of every night like that. She calls it one of the greatest pop songs ever made. It makes her nostalgic, but she thinks that if it came out yesterday it would still be "an absolute smash." She follows this with the pun "It's a basil smash." What she remembers most from the music video is Britney in a flight attendant's uniform, and she says no one has ever made that outfit look so good. She calls Britney an icon and says she loves all her songs.

There's a small mishap during the shaking, which she shrugs off with "we live to tell the tale." She says that if the drink had a warning label, it would read "beware too much fun." She double-strains it because "Britney would hate" basil stuck in someone's teeth, notices she forgot the ice "for the millionth time," and garnishes with basil. Her dad tries it. She introduces him as "my drinking partner," and he calls it amazing. She notes that Britney won the Grammy for Best Dance Recording for "Toxic" and goes to toast, but can't because her dad has taken her glass.

11:00

A Margarita for Madonna's "Frozen"

The last cocktail is a margarita, paired with Madonna's "Frozen." She first gets the names mixed up, saying "Frozen inspired by Madonna's margarita," then laughs and starts over. As with the Paloma, she rubs lime on only half the rim before salting it, because she thinks it looks cuter. She adds tequila and triple sec, specifically Cointreau.

She explains the pairing through the idea of a classic. The margarita is an absolute classic, "Frozen" is an absolute classic, and she thinks both are timeless. She calls Ray of Light one of her top five albums.

She also talks about working with Madonna. When she was making Club Future Nostalgia, she immediately wanted to ask Madonna to take part. The record ended up featuring two of her favorite artists, Missy Elliott and Madonna. Because it was made during COVID and lockdown, they couldn't be in the studio together and did everything by phone. She says hearing her songs reimagined by two icons was a massive dream. Even getting voice notes from Madonna felt like "the most surreal thing of my life."

The shaking goes badly again. She shouts "Horrible!" and then decides not to double-strain this one, guessing there aren't many ice chips. She adds a lime garnish. What she admires most about Madonna is her constant reinvention and the way she has evolved and grown. She says Madonna has inspired a whole generation of artists, and then corrects herself to say it isn't only young women but artists all over the world.

13:49

Music and a Good Night Out

To close, she links Madonna's music to a broader point: it brings people together, and music is a universal language. For her, the best nights out are the ones where you run into strangers, you're a bit tipsy, and you have a good conversation over a good drink. She says that's "where the magic really happens," where unique moments are created, and at the very least you go home with a good story.

She sums up the video as her six favorite cocktails paired with six favorite songs, says she's a little tipsy, suggests making a playlist, and encourages viewers to try the drinks at home. In the outtakes at the end, she mentions that she had been offered water earlier and said she'd be fine.