Tom Hanks’ Diet Coke and Champagne cocktail is a hit — here’s how to make it

Not many would pair Diet Coke with Champagne.

But iconic actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks is an outside-the-box thinker. And he recently stumbled into creating a cocktail that is as fizzy as it is unique.

“The Diet Cokagne” was born during a moment of celebration over the holidays, Hanks told Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” last week.

“I’m not a big drinker. I don’t drink so I usually have a Diet Coke,” he said, noting that for this particular occasion, Champagne was brought around.

“I said, ‘Oh, give me a shot of champagne in there for crying out loud,’” Hanks said, confirming that yes, he did in fact mean a shot in his Diet Coke. ”I said ‘Well, I may be insane but I want to help — I want to celebrate the season.’ So I had a sip of this.”

He had had about a third of his Diet Coke, and added a “shot” of champagne.

Hanks told Colbert it was “delicious.” And the name, Hanks said, was intuitive.

“We were debating what the name of it should be and I came up with it because it is coke and Champagne,” he said. “So, it’s obviously ‘Diet Cokagne’.” Colbert had suggested they call it the “Tom Hanks” referencing the “Tom Collins” cocktail. Hanks was OK with that idea, too.

After Hanks shared the origin story for his two-ingredient drink, the two had a taste. Colbert quipped before sipping that the cocktail is akin to an “American Aperol Spritz.”

And while we might not make the same comparison — or the same combination — mixing a flavored liquid including sugary juices with a bubbly like prosecco or champagne to the craft a cocktail is pretty common.

Cocktails such as the Aperol Spritz (Aperol, club soda, Prosecco) or the French 75 (gin, Champagne, lemon juice) or the brunch-favorite mimosa (orange juice, Champagne), the Bellini (peach juice, Prosecco), all combine flavored liqueurs or juices with bubbly.

And using Coke in a cocktail can be commonplace, too. Think rum and Coke, or one step closer to Hanks’ concoction is the Kalimotxo, a cocktail that pairs red wine and Coke.

And it is beginning to trend across the internet.

TikTok users are posting videos of themselves trying the drink in different settings — and some of the videos are going viral.

Cassidy Michelle posted a video of herself taking a sip of a “Diet Cokagne” on a plane ... and captioned it: “just order it and try... its GOOD!” Michelle thanked Hanks and compared it to a cream soda. The video had more than 56,000 views by Friday afternoon, one hour after it was posted.

Want to try to make the “Diet Cokagne” at home? Here’s how:

The Diet Cokagne

Ingredients:

• Diet Coke (or a diet cola of your choosing)
• Champagne

Instructions:

Pour 2/3 of a Diet Coke

Add one 1 shot of champagne

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