Cocktails are always a delicious way to pass an evening, but they also have the curious quality of being slightly mythic in regard to their ingredients, preparation, and the time and place they're consumed. I give you this passage from Kate Atkinson's story "Pleasureland" which is the concluding tale of her entertaining collection Not the End of the World, peppered by myself with a few hyperlink references to the times and cocktails mentioned! Yes, this is likely the most heavily researched post in Blogagaard history.
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"I always think vodka is a clean tasting drink," Trudi said. "Lemon, ice, tonic--what more could you ask for?"

"You could ask for a Pimm's. With cucumber and mint and slices of orange and lime. A maraschino cherry or perhaps a fresh strawberry. And a little Chinese paper parasol. Or possibly a dry Manzanilla sherry with a dish of roasted, salted Spanish almonds."

"Champagne cocktails --Ambrosia, Mimosa, Morning Glory--on the deck of a large oceangoing passenger liner sailing across the Pacific in, let's say, 1910."

"A gin sling on the veranda of Raffles in 1931."

"A Tom Collins at Harry's Bar in Paris in 1922."

"A Manhattan in the Monkey Bar in New York, a Gibson in the Double Dragon Lounge overlooking Hong Kong harbor. A Mai Tai in Honolulu, a Blue Margarita in Barcelona."

...

"A grappa. A Gaslight or a Sazerac."

"Lethal."

"Absinthe," Charlene said dreamily.

"Mmm."

"And opium."

Oh, yes, lots of opium."