Tom Hanks Possibly Just Gave Us The Best New Cocktail Of 2023

In the last few months, cocktail enthusiasts everywhere rushed out to try the latest trending drink that "House Of The Dragon" actor Emma D'Arcy shared on TikTok as their favorite: The negroni sbagliato, a once little-known variation on a classic negroni made with a splash of fizzy prosecco. Now that the sbagliato fervor has died down, aspiring mixologists are thirsty for a trendy spirit to kick off 2023 — and actor Tom Hanks may have just handed it to us.

On a recent visit to "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," Hanks shared the story behind his cocktail creation (via YouTube). While out with his family during the holidays at the Madison Avenue jazz restaurant Café Carlyle, a bottle of champagne was opened for the group. Telling Colbert that because, "despite a couple of evenings I've had with you ... I'm not a big drinker," Hanks was sipping on his usual club drink, a Diet Coke. But as the bubbly was poured and handed around, he acquiesced and accepted some champagne — poured straight into his soda. 

Hanks' family thought he was being ridiculous (and depending on the price of that champagne, perhaps rightly so). However, the move turned out to be an act of pure genius because as he told Colbert, "Stephen, it was delicious."

In classic Stephen Colbert style, the host had glasses, a bottle of champagne, and a can of Diet Coke at the ready to put Tom Hanks' unlikely new pairing to the test, with a live audience as witness (via YouTube). Hanks explained that his cocktail consists of begins with about a third of a can of Diet Coke topped off with champagne and served on the rocks. "This is exactly what the folks at Veuve Clicquot intended, by the way," Colbert joked mid-pour. Though clearly skeptical about the combo, Colbert looked happily surprised as he sipped his drink. "It's strangely, strikingly, shamefully good," he said. Hanks said that everyone in his family who tried the drink that night agreed. It's already common for people in Spain to combine red wine and Coca-Cola, so technically, the idea isn't too far-fetched.

The only thing missing at this point is a name for this new cola-champagne quaff. Hanks shared his own idea, formed that very night at Café Carlyle. "It is Coke and it's champagne, so it's Diet Cokagne." While that moniker admittedly rolls off the tongue with a touch of juvenile glee, we think an Oscar-winning actor-created cocktail deserves a name with a bit more character and distinction. Stephen Colbert felt similarly, and came up with the perfect one: "We have a Tom Collins, [now] we have the Tom Hanks." As he downed his Tom Hanks, Tom Hanks agreed, saying, "Well, let's go with that!"