POUR FORM

The classic martini is revelling in a revival, thanks to a contemporary shake-up of its delivery service

- PHOTOGRAPHY: NEIL GODWIN ENTERTAINING: MELINA KEAYS INTERIORS: OLLY MASON WRITER: ALICE LASCELLES

You can draw a classic martini glass in just five strokes, yet that instantly-recognisable Y-shape is a vessel that contains multiple worlds. It’s the universal shorthand for glamour, sophistication and fun, a muse for writers, cartoonists and ad men, and illuminated in countless neon bar signs. It’s synonymous with one cocktail, yet it’s a signifier for all mixed drinks - a visual language so global that it’s even acquired its own emoji.

Yet, in recent times, the Y-shaped glass had come to be considered a bit naff. ‘When I started bartending in 2012, the glass’s V-shape bowl was very out of fashion,’ says master mixologist Remy Savage. ‘It was all about the coupe. But the V-shape is now back, which is great.’

At Savage's design-driven bars - which include Bar Nouveau in Paris, A Bar with Shapes for a Name in London and Abstract in Lyon - he riffs on the classic martini in all sorts of interesting ways, teasing out its elegance with glasses by Japanese manufacturer Sokichi one minute, then introducing playful pops of colour with offerings by Bodum x MoMA or Sophie Lou Jacobsen the next. Savage is currently working on a custom-designed, art deco-inspired glass for his next project, a martini-and-oyster bar in New York. Meanwhile, collective nostalgia for the classic hotel bar has also helped fuel the return of the traditional martini glass - you just need to post a picture of a martini at Mayfair hotel bar Dukes or at The Carlyle’s fabled cocktail lounge Bemelmans on the Upper East Side to quadruple your Instagram likes.