The carpenter’s cocktail cabinet

In the woodworking workshop, amid the perfect grain of wax-polished mahogany and varnished veneer, sat a tin lunch box brimming with smoked ham, marmalade on buttered hot cross buns and a thick slice of orange drizzle cake. A selection of jars contained homemade ginger wine, fermenting perry and sultanas soaking in cognac. The carpenter added a few drops of water to a glass, followed by cocktail bitters, orange brandy and a gentian-infused apéritif, before agitating the mix in a freshly carved cocktail shaker with bitter orange and grapefruit. Finishing with a dash of oloroso sherry and a garnish of red berries, the carpenter sat among the sawdust for a well-earned break. After 12 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, this was transferred to a first fill oloroso hogshead.