It’s more than 200 years old, but Plymouth Gin remains one of the best Martini gins around – its notes of piney juniper and citrus zest are elegant, pure and subtle. I love the aqueous-looking bottle, too.
I own way too much glassware, so choosing a favourite Martini glass is hard. But this perfectly-proportioned coupette by Urban Bar is a model I use a lot. Dainty in size, but sturdy enough to withstand a party, and only £8.50 a throw.
I adore the table linens made by Dinette for homeware store Love & Honor. They are decorated with cocktails, lobsters and other decadent things, and the illustrations are so sweet, I’m not sure whether to use them or frame them!
For an exacting cocktail like the Martini you need a tool that measures really accurately – and Difford’s Easy Jigger is brilliant. It does mls and ozs in increments from 1.25ml to 60ml. And, unlike most traditional jiggers, it’s also transparent so you can see what you’ve actually poured.
My cocktail cabinet is never without a jar of these sticky-sweet flavour bombs – great in Manhattans, Old Fashioneds or just spooned straight into your mouth when you think no-one is looking.
The yuzu season is extremely short – just a few months in winter – so having it fresh is the ultimate luxury. The zest’s heavenly scent is a mix of mandarin, lemon grass, grapefruit and lime – great as a twist in a Martini or virtually any drink containing gin.
A great new non-alcoholic aperitif from the US, this is fermented from hemp and then distilled with botanicals including angelica, wormwood, ginger, sage, juniper, orange peel and Douglas fir. Bittersweet and complex, it’s a rare example of a non-alcoholic drink you can actually sip.
This carafe-and-ice-bowl set would make an excellent present for the Martini lover who has (almost) everything. Designed by New York’s queen of cocktails, Audrey Saunders, it ensures your drink stays icy cold right down to the very last drop.
Monica Berg and Alex Kratena – the couple behind the acclaimed Tayēr + Elementary bar in Old Street – are two of the bar world's most influential tastemakers. Their latest trio of bottled cocktails takes its inspiration from fragrance accords: Chypre (oak moss, labdanum and bergamot), Suede (oud, santal and leather), Tabac (vetiver, chinotto and Ancho chile). Very sophisticated.