There is something deeply civilised about a properly made cocktail.
Not the hurried drink at a crowded bar, but the one made at home with a little care and intention — the right glass, the right garnish, the music on, the evening beginning properly. It is a ritual as much as a drink, and like all good rituals it deserves a certain amount of theatre.
The home bar is back. Not the dusty cabinet of sticky bottles that haunted the corner of every seventies sitting room, but something altogether more considered — a dedicated space, thoughtfully stocked, that says something about the person who created it. And like any well-designed space, it deserves art on the walls that matches its ambition.
A Brief History of the Cocktail
The cocktail has always been about more than the drink itself. It has been about the moment, the mood, the company, and the setting.
The golden age of the cocktail arrived in the 1920s and 30s — the era of the Savoy's American Bar, of Noël Coward and his dry martini, of jazz and cigarette holders and the kind of wit that only emerges after the second drink. The cocktail was sophisticated, slightly dangerous, and entirely glamorous. The glass itself was a design object.
The postwar decades brought new energy. The tiki bar arrived from America, all rum and crushed ice and little paper umbrellas, and suddenly the Piña Colada was transporting suburban sitting rooms to somewhere considerably more exotic. The sixties and seventies added their own chapter — Harveys Bristol Cream on the sideboard gave way to something altogether more adventurous as foreign travel opened up and palates broadened.
Then came the revolution. The craft cocktail movement of the 1990s and 2000s transformed the bartender into an artist and the cocktail list into a document of genuine creativity. Ingredients that had never met in a glass were introduced, techniques borrowed from kitchens, and the whole culture of drinking was elevated into something that rewarded attention and curiosity.
The Pornstar Martini Problem
Which brings us to the Pornstar Martini — possibly the most brilliantly named drink ever conceived, and certainly the most ordered cocktail in Britain for several years running.
Created in London in the early 2000s by bartender Douglas Ankrah, it was designed to be, in his own words, something that everyone would want. Passion fruit, vanilla vodka, Prosecco on the side — it is unashamedly pleasurable, not remotely apologetic about it, and the name does exactly what a good name should do. It stops you in your tracks and makes you smile before you've even tasted it.
The Pornstar Martini is the cocktail that refuses to take itself too seriously, and that is precisely why it works. There is a lesson in there for anyone who makes things for other people to enjoy.
Escape by the Glass — The Piña Colada
If the Pornstar Martini is the cocktail of the city, the Piña Colada is the cocktail of somewhere else entirely. Created in Puerto Rico in the 1950s — the precise origin is still contested with considerable passion — it arrived in British consciousness in the seventies and has never really left.
There is something almost architectural about a properly made Piña Colada. The coconut cream, the pineapple, the white rum — each element distinct, together creating something that tastes unmistakably of holiday. Of the particular kind of afternoon that has no agenda and no end time.
It is also, it should be noted, one of the most beautiful drinks to look at. Which is precisely why it belongs on a wall.
The Rise of the Mocktail
Perhaps the most significant shift in drinks culture over the past decade has nothing to do with alcohol at all.
The sober-curious movement — driven by health awareness, changing attitudes among younger generations, and a growing sophistication in non-alcoholic options — has transformed what it means to not drink.
The fruit mocktail is no longer the apologetic glass of orange juice pressed into the hand of the designated driver. It is a considered, crafted drink in its own right — layered, complex, beautiful to look at, and every bit as deserving of a proper glass and a moment of appreciation.
The inclusion of a mocktail in any serious cocktail collection is not a concession. It is a statement of intent — that the ritual matters more than the alcohol, that the pleasure is in the making and the presentation as much as anything else.
Art for the Cocktail Hour
The Cocktail Society collection was created for exactly this world. Four prints, each built around a single drink and the mood it creates — the golden elegance of the Limoncello Spritz, the knowing glamour of the Pornstar Martini, the sun-drenched escapism of the Piña Colada, and the fresh vitality of the Fruit Mocktail.
Each print combines beautiful photography with a considered typographic layout and the full recipe — so the wall art becomes something functional as well as decorative. A conversation piece that also tells you exactly how to make the drink.
They are designed for the home bar, the kitchen, the dining room, or anywhere that takes its aperitivo hour seriously. Printed at home or professionally in any size you choose, from £5 each.
The Cocktail Society — available now in the shop.
Because every home bar deserves a little art on the walls.
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