Hip Flask
A flat curved metal bottle of 150 to 250ml, shaped to sit against a hip inside a coat. It carries a spirit and nothing else, and what it holds is limited by chemistry rather than by taste.
We Make One
150ml, six 25ml measures, with a satin-lined gift box and filling funnel.
Stainless Steel Hip FlaskAlternatives
Budget Alternative
Basic stainless flasks (£5-10): check the steel grade before trusting good rum to one
Premium Option
English pewter from Wentworth (£50-80): heirloom weight, traditional material
Care & Maintenance
Care Instructions
- Rinse with hot water after each use; dry upside down, cap off
- A baking-soda rinse clears any taint
- Never machine-wash a flask with a gasket seal
Expected Lifespan
- •Budget: 3-5 years before caps or gaskets fail
- •Quality stainless: a lifetime; gaskets are replaceable
Usage
Carrying a high-proof spirit to a match, a hill, a wedding or a cold touchline: whisky, brandy, rum, gin. Filled fresh for the occasion and emptied afterwards rather than kept charged on a shelf.
Shape and Material
The curve is the whole design: a flask is meant to lie flat against the body inside a coat, and a straight bottle does not. Capacity runs 150 to 250ml, which is three to five decent measures.
Stainless steel is the standard and the right answer: inert, tough, and it imparts nothing. Pewter is traditional and softer; older pewter can contain lead and should be treated as decorative. Silver-plated flasks wear through to base metal, which is a genuine problem with anything acidic in them.
Screw caps hinged to the body are worth having. An unhinged cap is a cap that ends up in a field.
What It Can Hold
Spirits, at 40% ABV or above, and nothing else. That is a chemical limit rather than a preference.
Anything with sugar in it will not keep: a liqueur, vermouth, a premixed cocktail. Sugar plus metal plus time gives you a stale, slightly metallic drink within a day, and any dairy or citrus is a food safety matter rather than a taste one within hours.
Wine and beer are worse. Wine oxidises quickly in a part-empty flask and the acidity attacks plating; beer has nowhere for its carbonation to go and will spray when opened.
How Long It Keeps
A day or two, comfortably. High-proof spirit in clean stainless is stable and will not spoil, but it does change.
The flask is part-full from the first sip, so the spirit sits against a large volume of air in a metal container. Oxidation flattens it noticeably within a few days, and a flask left charged for a month tastes dull and faintly of metal.
So: fill it the morning you need it and empty it that night, back into the bottle if any is left. A flask is a carrying vessel, not a decanter, and treating it as storage is how you end up with one that tastes wrong for good.
Cleaning It
Rinse with hot water immediately after emptying, then swirl a small measure of neutral spirit around the inside and pour it away. That removes residue without leaving anything behind.
Never use washing-up liquid. The neck is narrow, nothing gets in to rinse it properly, and detergent trapped inside is why so many secondhand flasks taste of soap.
Dry it completely before storage, standing it open and upside down overnight. A flask put away damp develops a stale note that is extremely difficult to shift, and on pewter or plate it starts corrosion. Store with the cap off.
Pro Tip
A flask is a serving vessel, not a cellar. Fill it for the occasion and empty it after: the drink you carry should be one you finish.
What to Look For
- 304 (18/8) stainless: lower grades taint the spirit
- A captive cap you cannot drop in a field
- Welded seams, not soldered
- A curve that matches a pocket
- A funnel included or bought alongside: filling without one wastes good rum
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Storing spirit for months: fill for the trip, empty after
- Carrying cocktails or anything citrus
- Buying leather-wrapped without checking the steel underneath
- Overfilling: leave air space or the cap seat weeps
Professional Tips
- Spirits only. Nothing with sugar, citrus or cream.
- Fill for the day, empty the same day.
- Rinse with hot water and spirit, never detergent.
- Dry it completely before it goes away. Damp taints metal.
Specifications
Material
Stainless Steel
Capacity
150ml is six 25ml measures
Details
Captive or screw cap, curved profile
History & Context
Flasks predate cocktail bars and most of the drinks in this manual. The curved pocket form settled in the eighteenth century, and Prohibition made it an icon. The material history matters more than the romance: pewter and silver gave way to stainless steel because steel neither leaches nor dents, which is the whole job.
Common Questions
How long can you keep spirits in a hip flask?
A day or two comfortably. It will not spoil, since high-proof spirit in clean stainless is stable, but a part-full flask holds a lot of air, and oxidation flattens the spirit within days. Fill it the morning you need it and empty it that night.
What size hip flask should I buy?
Between 150 and 250ml, which is three to five measures. Larger flasks stop lying flat against the body, which is the whole reason for the curved shape, and they take longer to empty than the spirit inside stays fresh.
Can you put cocktails in a hip flask?
Not usefully. Anything with sugar goes stale and metallic within a day, and citrus or dairy is a food safety problem within hours. A spirit-only stirred drink survives a few hours, but neat spirit is what the vessel is for.
How do you clean a hip flask?
Rinse with hot water, then swirl a small measure of neutral spirit around the inside and discard it. Never use detergent. The neck is too narrow to rinse properly, and trapped soap is why secondhand flasks so often taste of it.
Related Equipment
Related Ingredients
Guide by Jerry Can Spirits