Freddie Mercury's Favorite Cocktail Featured One Specific Vodka Brand

Iconic Queen frontman Freddie Mercury had very specific tastes, not only in music, art, and style, but also in what he ate and drank. Peter "Phoebe" Freestone, who worked as Mercury's personal assistant from 1980 until the singer's death in 1991, shared the ingredients of Freddie Mercury's favorite cocktail in his "Ask Phoebe" blog. Mercury often invented nicknames for his friends, and he gave Freestone the moniker Phoebe.

It turns out that Mercury was a creature of habit when it came to drinks. According to Freestone, Mercury preferred Twining's earl grey tea in the morning, made with milk and two sugars. In the afternoon, the singer switched to either Louis Roederer Cristal champagne or Saint Saphorin wine from Switzerland, and he drank vodka tonics made with Stolichnaya vodka, Schweppes tonic water, and ice in the evening. If Stolichnaya was not available, Mercury's second-choice vodka was Moskovskaya.

Freestone points out that Mercury didn't drink alcohol every day, but when he did, he liked to stick with his favorite brands. He ordered cases of wine from Switzerland so he would always have Saint Saphorin on hand. Legendary Queen guitarist and songwriter (and astrophysicist) Brian May recalls that Mercury liked vodka so much that he would take a dry ice cooler packed with Stoli with him when the band went on tour.

If you'd like to raise a glass of Stoli-based vodka tonic (or any other vodka-based cocktail) in Freddie Mercury's memory, keep in mind that his favorite vodka's name officially changed in 2022. In March of that year, Stoli Group rebranded Stolichnaya as Stoli in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Contrary to popular belief, Stoli is produced in Latvia, not Russia. Although, confusingly, Stolichnaya vodka is also produced in Russia for the Russian market, but it is made by a state-owned Russian company, FKP Sojuzplodoimport. Both companies lay claim to the Stolichnaya trademark and have been involved in legal disputes about who is the rightful owner of the Stolichnaya name.