The Drink Humphrey Bogart Always Sipped On His Movie Sets

"I should never have switched from Scotch to martinis," were apparently actor Humphrey Bogart's last words, so the legend goes (via Scotch Whisky). And although it's unlikely that this line can actually be attributed to him, it is true that the screen icon loved to drink — and was especially keen on Scotch as opposed to whiskey.

Bogart developed his appreciation for the spirit in his early 40s, according to biographers — and it soon became a daily ritual on set. Once he found fame, it was a stipulation of his contract that filming would finish for him at 6 p.m. — a moment he marked with a glass of Scotch brought to him by Verita Peterson, his hairdresser, a wig-maker, and also his mistress. He would call out, "Scotch!" to signify that it was time.

Scotch formed a key part of Bogart's diet when making movies. When filming "The African Queen" in Uganda and the Congo in Africa in 1951, many of the cast and crew, including Katharine Hepburn, fell ill with dysentery from infected water. Only Bogart and the movie's director, John Huston, managed to avoid it — a feat the actor partly attributed to drinking whiskey rather than water. "All I ate was baked beans, canned asparagus, and Scotch whiskey," Bogart later revealed (via Express). "Whenever a fly bit Huston or me, it dropped dead." When he filmed "The Barefoot Contessa" in Italy in 1954, Bogart got by mainly on Scotch and minestrone.

Humphrey Bogart was particularly fond of Scotch mixed with a little soda water rather than taking whiskey neat. The actor had his own name for the drink — "loudmouth" — thanks to the impact it had on the drinker of becoming more talkative (via The Independent). Even while he was recovering from chest surgery in 1956, Bogart's wife (fellow star Lauren Bacall) permitted him to drink three of his favorite tipples a day. Each measure was an ounce of Scotch, topped up with water and served with two ice cubes.

The movie star and original member of the Rat Pack also liked to drink his Scotch and soda with food, especially simple breakfast dishes. These included French toast or ham and eggs at Romanoff's, a Beverly Hills restaurant that opened in 1939 and was frequented by stars. The venue was the inspiration for Paul's restaurant and bar in the movie "In a Lonely Place."

Since his death, the "Casablanca" actor continues to be associated with alcohol. In 2018, Bogart Spirits, in partnership with the Humphrey Bogart Estate, launched a range of spirits paying homage to Bogie, including rum, gin, vodka, and — of course — whiskey. However, the latter was only a limited-edition run, and interestingly it was an Irish whiskey rather than whisky, finished in American oak bourbon casks. While it's not Bogart's beloved Scotch, it's good to see his spirit lives on — and not just through his movies.