Do you know Leonard Cohen’s Cocktail? The Red Needle

By Nathalie Baylaucq 25.08.2020

Leonard Cohen, remembered by many for leaving his great mark on the music world is also remembered in the bar for his cocktail “The Red Needle”.

This cocktail “The Red Needle” was created by Cohen in 1975 during a stay in the city of Needle, California. It is a powerful cocktail, based on tequila, with strength.

The Canadian singer created a beautiful musical career and left an important legacy until his death in 2016. Songs like “Suzanne” and “Hallelujah” were part of his fame. A singer-songwriter and poet, the artist had a particular appreciation for New York and spent a good part of his life in the Big Apple. His mark on the city was so important that the Jewish Museum of New York created an exhibition about the artist. In fact, in the museum’s bar they recreated his signature cocktail “The Red Needle” for tasting.

The Red Needle Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

60 ml of tequila

1 lemon slice

Fill the glass to the top with cranberry juice

A documentary to watch: Marianne & Leonard Words of Love

You can’t miss the documentary Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is the most personal and romantic film in the history of filmmaker Nick Broomfield. The documentary begins on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960, where Leonard Cohen, then a struggling and unknown fiction writer, and Marianne Ihlen, a single mother with a young son, became part of the expatriate community of artists, writers and musicians. Never before seen images taken by Broomfield and legendary documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker make a unique portrait of the bohemian idyll of the 1960s. It was a time that left a lasting impression on both Marianne and Leonard, whose friendship would last another fifty years before their deaths in 2016.

Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.