Champagne buckets, wine coolers & cocktail shakers

Choosing a champagne bucket

A champagne bucket should hold a bottle upright with enough room for ice and water around it, which chills a bottle faster than ice alone. Fill it two-thirds with ice, add cold water, then sink the bottle in for about 20 minutes. Add a handful of salt to the water if you are in a hurry, as it lowers the temperature further. Nick Munro makes the Trombone champagne bucket in stainless steel, part of a range that also includes a wine cooler, ice bucket and water pitcher. We checked each maker here for how its pieces are made.

Wine cooler and stone coolers

A wine cooler keeps an already chilled bottle cold at the table. As well as the Trombone wine cooler, So Just Shop sells a grey marble wine cooler and a soapstone beer cooler. Chill stone coolers in the fridge for an hour before use, as the stone holds the cold. A wine cooler on the table saves trips to the fridge through dinner, and a stone cooler also looks good on a sideboard between parties.

Stainless steel ice bucket and cocktail shaker

A stainless steel ice bucket is light, easy to clean and will not crack like glass. Nick Munro makes a Trombone ice bucket with tongs, separate ice tongs and a Trombone cocktail shaker. Pentire makes a jigger for measuring spirits, and WiseSip makes a cocktail glass straw set. Shake cocktails hard with plenty of ice for about 15 seconds, then strain into a chilled glass. For alcohol-free drinks, the same tools work just as well for shaken mocktails.

Tumblers, glasses and bar tools

Habulous makes stoneware drinks tumblers by hand in Britain in off-white, cornflower blue, mint green, light yellow and pale pink, plus a Moorland tumbler and a cotton candy wine tumbler. Big Nose and Beardy makes a cider glass and a Sand Project bottle opener. For New Year, a champagne bucket and a set of tumblers make an easy gift. Wine, Beer & Spirits has craft cider, Low & No Alcohol has alcohol-free spirits, and Dinnerware has handmade plates and bowls.