Quicktake: Shake it Easy delivers cocktails with all the extras like ice, garnish and straws in less than an hour for Paris or bottles delivered within a day or two in the rest of France
With Paris back on lockdown, I’m exploring yet more ways to stay entertained at home and support local businesses. Lately we’ve been looking at alcohol delivery services as well as a new cocktail service on the scene. Today. let’s talk about the fastest way to get a ready-to-drink cocktail delivered to your door: Shake it Easy
Shake it Easy launched a few years after a successful crowdfunding campaign, with a vision of delivering quality cocktails within an hour for Paris and a day or two for the rest of France. They offer about 8 different cocktail creations plus a couple of old standbys like the Caipirinha and Cosmo. They also have one non-alcoholic option. Bottles come in 50cl or 100cl, yielding 4 or 8 cocktails respectively, and cost 20 to 30 Euros depending on selection and size.
Though they have been on my radar for a bit, I only recently got around to testing them out, ordering the Caipirinha and a Dalston. Their version of the Caipirinha deviates from the traditional spirit forward version, which is primarily made up of cachaca, and delivers a rum based mixed drink that is lengthened with passionfruit juice. It’s an easy drinker that will likely go down well for the general public not necessarily ready for the heat of a traditional caipirinha. I really enjoyed the Dalston, a bittersweet update on the spritz with gin, aperol, elderflower syrup, ginger beer and citrus.
Mickaël Burg is the mixologist behind the recipes, and you might recognize his name from his prior work in some of the city’s more interesting cocktails bars like the Forum, Carmen and Persifleur (which he ran up until it closed)
The ordering process is super easy and drinks arrive at your door with everything but the cocktail glass: paper straws, garnish, coaster and ice. (I was really impressed with the nice, solid, dense quality ice they are using.)
You can also order gift cards, which would be a nice way to buy a friend a drink from afar during Covid confinement. It looks like they are planning a bottle return option, allowing for a slight reduction on future orders with bottle returns. And, they deliver anywhere in France by mail service – of course this delivery doesn’t fall within the hour or less window and you’ll have to wait a day or two for your delicious drinks.
I’ve seen cocktail delivery services come and go in Paris, so I’m hoping the increasing demand for quality mixed drinks mean ventures like Shake it Easy will now have more staying power. Especially as I think it’s overall a great option for quick, quality drinks to your door.