I spent the other afternoon perusing the Asprey website, and, as would be expected, I found all kinds of jewelry, trifles, and objects that I now can't live without. What especially caught my attention was their barware, most of which harks back to the Golden Age of Cocktails. Think swizzle sticks, smoky glass decanters, sublime champagne coolers, and sterling silver flasks. The most fanciful of their barware offerings, though, has to be the stylish cocktail shakers. Yes, these shakers might be investment pieces, but they are indeed shakers that you will have forever. You know, one of those items that your children will fight over someday.
Anyway, I found these shakers so inspiring that I went off in search of classic cocktails that are in the spirit (or might that be spirits?) of these classic shakers themselves.
A Port Cocktail Shaker calls for:
Port in a Storm
*a punch recipe
4 oz. port
1-2 dashes brandy
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Use an ordinary ruby port since it is a mixed drink. Stir will with ice and drink on the rocks or strained in a wine glass.
The Rocket
1 oz. acquavit
1 oz. kummël
Pour from ice-cold bottles into cocktail glasses. Stir.
Oriental Cooler
2 oz. gin or vodka
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 dashes Angostura bitters
Tonic water
Mix the gin or vodka, lime juice and Angostura in a tall glass. Top up with tonic water.
Black Velvet
1/2 champagne
1/2 Guinness
Half fill a tall glass with cold Guinness. Fill the remainder with chilled champagne (carefully, so it will not fizz up and waste precious drops).
Leave It To Me
2 oz. gin
1 oz. maraschino
1 oz. lemon juice
1 dash grenadine
1 egg white
Shake all the ingredients hard for a frothy delight and serve in a large cocktail or wine glass.
Flying Red Horse
6 oz. orange juice
1 oz. vodka
2 dashes Grand Marnier
1 dash grenadine
Stir with ice and serve in a tumbler.
Cocktail recipes from the Vogue Book of Cocktails. Illustrations from The Twenties in Vogue, The Thirties in Vogue, and Society in Vogue.