It was a sultry evening in early June, and I was heading to a party on the other side of London. The journey by tube takes an hour, so my boyfriend and I brought along some warm cans of margarita to pass the time. As the sweet reek of lime had begun to drift across the carriage, I spotted two women sipping cosmopolitans – Carrie Bradshaw’s drink of choice and for years the only cocktail I could have named – out of similar tins. Before long, we were all feeling lightly smashed.
Drinking on Transport for London services was banned in 2008 (the year of the great recession, just when we needed it most), but these days it seems the rule survives more as a suggestion. And conveniently, our cans were small enough to disappear into our pockets if necessary. As the writer and founder of @londondeadpubs Jimmy McIntosh puts it: “It might seem a bit uncouth to crack out a four pack of lager when travelling somewhere on public transport. But a canned cocktail feels more discreet and civilised somehow.”
