Indie Squid Kid

In ancient times, sailors were constantly losing track of their drinking vessels. If you set down your tankard of grog for even a second, it was very likely to be absconded (sometimes inadvertently, sometimes not) by one of your fellow mariners. This problem grew exponentially during the cocktail parties which were thrown at regular intervals on long voyages. It was at one such ship-board soiree that an enterprising seaman (whose identity, sadly, has been lost to history) first grabbed a handy cephalopod and wrapped it around his cup as a way of easily distinguishing it from those of his shipmates. This venerable (and completely made-up) tradition lives on in this set of colorful cocktail charms from the kitschmeisters at Accoutrements.

These cute little plastic squids (not quite anatomically accurate, but that’s OK) come in a mix of red, blue, green, yellow, and, as you can see below, they perch on the rim of your glass, looking as though they just climbed out of your drink.

Here you see a cocktail squid in action on the Bloody Mary I made myself tonight. (We were having omelettes for dinner, so it seemed only appropriate.) I would normally have used Kraken rum for a demo like this, but, tragically, we finished off our bottle last month!

One could also use these charms on a wine glass…say one full of The Tentacle 2008 Syrah. However, it doesn’t appear that Accoutrements makes these anymore, so if you want to obtain your own shimmering rainbow school of tiny plastic cephalopods, Ebay may be your only option.