I still have my 21st-birthday hip flasks: one pewter and a bit leaky, the other silver and glass, half covered in leather, with a removable silver base that serves as a cup. In truth it’s rather large for a hip flask but fits very snugly in the glove compartment of our ancient car. It’s not for the driver, of course, but for passengers when it’s particularly cold or there’s a lull in conversation. (Read The Field’s guide to the best hip-flasks.)

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Six of the best hip-flask fillers

Whitebox Pocket Negroni Too idle to make your own? Then pop this – just one of many in a fabulous range – in the hip flask.

Cockburn’s Vat & Barrel Reserve Tawny Port  A brand-new and utterly delightful port made especially for easygoing, everyday drinking

The King’s Ginger Liqueur, Berry Bros & Rudd The big, bad boy of ginger liqueurs, created specifically for King Edward VII.

Dockyard Damson Gin Liqueur, Copper Rivet From the glory that is Kent: deliciously warming and delectably tasty.

Delamain Pale & Dry XO Cognac As fine a cognac as you’ll find, from 200-year-old masters of ageing and blending.

New Riff Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon I adore this, the World’s Best Bourbon at the 2026 World Whiskies Awards.

I like to vary things, however, to keep the palate sharp. Sometimes I’ll fill my flasks with kümmel – Mentzendorff or the recently reintroduced Wolfschmidt for preference – and when I tire of that, one of Foxdenton’s marvellous flavoured gin liqueurs.

Grant’s Morella Cherry Brandy Liqueur will also feature. I’ve eulogised it before, because it’s just so damn fine. If you’re brave, mix it half and half with whisky. This transforms it into a Percy Special, a savagely strong stirrup cup created by the 10th Duke of Northumberland for riders to hounds with the Percy Hunt.

Quarante Quatre – a French hip-flask filler

My current favourite hip-flask filler, though, is home-made: the Quarante Quatre. Much drunk in northern France, this sublime snifter is so named because it honours the legend of a Norman Crusader who was attacked under an orange tree in the Holy Land on the 44th day of his expedition by 44 Saracens, receiving 44 blows.

To make it, pierce a large orange with 44 slits, into which slide 44 coffee beans. Place the orange in a suitably sized jar, add 44 teaspoons or cubes of sugar, cover with a litre of vodka, brandy, rum, calvados or bourbon (the least authentic but my preferred choice) and leave for 44 days. The result is stunning. A gloriously complex liqueur that hits you first with orange notes then with warming spirit and finally with delicate hints of coffee. I love it and always have a jar on the go. I’ve just filled the glove compartment hip flask with the latest batch. Happily, it’s Mrs Ray’s turn to drive tonight.

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