Cocktail time should never be rushed, says drinks journalist Alice Lascelles. Even the preparation is part of the magic if you have the right kit

One of the biggest drinks trends of recent times has been the rise of ready-to-drink cocktails, or RTDs – canned Margaritas, pre-mixed Porn Star Martinis, that kind of thing. The chief driver of this, apparently, has been Gen Z’s penchant for drinking “on the go”. Which begs the question: where are all these time-poor imbibers actually on their way to?

I must say, I find it a bit depressing seeing the cocktail hour eroded like this. Because the whole point of cocktails, after all, is their delicious inconvenience. All the icing and stirring and zesting isn’t just a job to be got out of the way. It’s an inherent part of the pleasure; a ritual to be savoured.

It puts me in mind of a conversation I once had with the burlesque artist Dita von Teese – the carmine-lipped bombshell famous for disrobing in a giant Martini glass. I was lamenting the repeated re-application that red lipstick so often requires. She said: “Buy a beautiful compact, and a lipstick you love and make a ceremony of it.” If mixing drinks is a drag, in other words, then perhaps all you need are some nice bits of cocktail kit.

It was during American Prohibition, ironically, that sales of domestic cocktail kits really took off. Prior to that, cocktail mixing had really only been done by professional bartenders in smoky saloons and gentlemen’s clubs. With the introduction of the Volstead Act in 1920, cocktails migrated to people’s homes. And as the Great Depression started to bite, many US households were forced to lay off their servants.

The result of all this was that entertaining became a much more DIY affair, with hosts increasingly having to mix the fancy drinks themselves. “Cocktail parties have become the line of least resistance in entertaining,” wrote Alice-Leone Moats in her tongue-in-cheek guide to 1930s etiquette, No Nice Girl Swears. “All you need is a case of synthetic gin and a tin of anchovy paste.”

Demand for cocktail sets duly went through the roof, and Asprey, Tiffany and Dunhill obliged with all sorts of ingenious silver shakers in the shape of aeroplanes, skyscrapers, battleships and penguins. Bolstered by all these shiny new props, the cocktail hour took centre stage, and the Martini became a sacrament fetishised down to the very last detail.

When it comes to Martinis, particularly, I think the most important piece of equipment is the glass. The right one will make you sexier, smarter and more sophisticated – or at least feel like you are. I own tonnes of Martini glasses, because drinking Martinis is my job. The one I have on repeat, though, is an £8 coupe from online retailer Urban Bar. It’s on the small side at 150ml, which is good as it means the contents don’t have time to get warm. It has lovely vintage-style curves, but is also sturdy enough to withstand a boisterous party.

For an exacting cocktail like the Martini, an accurate spirits measure also helps – I like the Difford x Bonzer jigger which has the increments (in both ounces and millilitres) written, ingeniously, up the inside.

A fancy shaker isn’t necessary – you can mix a Martini in any old jug. But using a nice Japanese mixing glass with a long-handled barspoon (and a Hawthorn strainer to hold back the ice) will make things feel more elegant.

There’s one thing that will elevate your Martini more than any other, and that’s using a frozen glass. I keep a few in the freezer door, permanently, so there’s always one on standby.

And before you start mixing, close the laptop; turn off the phone. Deal with any recalcitrant kids or pets that need to go out. Because a Martini’s window of perfection is fleeting – so when it arrives you must surrender fully to it

Instagram: @alicelascelles. Alice Lascelles writes about drinks for the Financial Times and is the author of The Martini: The Ultimate Guide to a Cocktail Icon (Quadrille).

This article appears in Idler #106.

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