7 NOVEMBER 1992, Page 39

Nightcaps

What do you drink before going to bed?

Nigel Nicolson

The answer is boringly, truthfully, that I drink nothing. Being a divorce-widower, a .born-again bachelor, there is nobody With whom I need to cap the night. I slope off to bed when I feel like it, per- haps at nine, perhaps at two, depending on the television programme or the state of the dying fire. Drink doesn't come into it. Solitary alcoholism has never given me pleasure, only shame, while coffee is said to be anti-soporific, and the Ovaltine- Horlicks group exists as goodnight drinks only in the minds of advertisers and old- fashioned novelists writing about old- fashioned insomniacs. When alone I drink when I am thirsty, and thirst is the least likely torment of the bed-bound. But wait — there are occasions when I am not alone. That is quite another mat- ter. To collapse into a deep bed, tipsily but still composed, is one of life's most delightful experiences, eminently repeat- able.

Christopher Fildes

Another glass of what I'm drinking already, which is likely to be a Chianti or a. more-ish Australian red. Or a mildly diluted malt whisky. Or, to keep or drive the cold out, a scalding hot Scotch and lemon in a robust mug.

Anita Brookner

After an evening walk — but these are becoming more dangerous — a cup of tea is mandatory. But for more sedative evenings a tisane will have to do. Since ost of them are vaguely emetic, it is a Job. to find one that is refreshing. Mixed fruit has proved to be acceptable — with a. teaspoonful of honey to give an impres- sion of well-being.

Julie Burchill

I don't drink anything before I go to bed because I'm usually unconscious from drinking so much by then. I like to drink when I'm playing Nintendo, which I do from 11 until 1 every night after work. I drink champagne with cassis and Dia- mond White cider by itself. I have been drinking very heavily since I was 14 and now my palate has been so destroyed, I'm afraid, that the other night I drank a whole bottle of what I thought was tequi- la and didn't realise until the next day that it was Strega.

Auberon Waugh

It is not conventional, in country houses above the rank of farmhouse, to offer Horlicks or Ovaltine before guests retire to bed, although those are by far the best things to drink last thing at night. Instead, we are slaves to whisky and soda, although beer is sometimes offered in Bohemian or poor homes. Neither is perfect, and whisky is often a disaster, mixing badly with wine and very badly indeed with port. My own best drink for last thing is a light white wine with not too much acid but some prickle or spritz. A mild sauvignon from Chile or New Zealand is ideal, or a Gewiirztraminer from Alsace, but it must be cold and not too full of taste. Alternatively, best of all soft drinks, some elderflower cordial (from the Bottle Green Drinks Company of Nellsworth, Glos) with sparkling min- eral water and masses of ice.

Nigella Lawson

What I drink before going to bed depends on how much I have drunk dur- ing the preceding hours. As punishment for, and protection from the effects of, serious alcoholic intake, I prop myself up in bed and drink — without flinching — two entire litre-and-a-half bottles of Greek mineral water. If I haven't drunk anything, I don't start, or I find myself waking up in the night convinced that I am a 63-year-old man with prostate trou- ble.

Digby Anderson

Nightcaps are a young person's thing. They imply a sudden decision to have a drink or drink something different. The first means one has not been drinking, which is inexcusable. The second implies a sudden change and a decision. Sudden changes are always to be deplored, espe- cially after dinner, as are decisions. In proper households, dinner should slowly come to an end as chaps sit over cheese, nuts, dried plums in marc and cigars. From the time the wine changed to red after the fish — it has got heavier and heavier — claret to burgundy to Lebanese, Portuguese or very old Argie, there simply comes a moment when one 'There's an unfunny noise coming from the engine.' has had enough; and off one wanders to bed muttering Compline rather incoher- ently. To do anything — switch rooms and have conversation, listen to the wire- less — is bound to be an anticlimax after the glories of dinner. One should slip into oblivion not be catapulted into it by a nightcap. The only exception is when one is so excited by thoughts of tomor- row's breakfast that one cannot sleep. Then perhaps a little more Argie and a couple of pages of Orczy — Sir Percy Hits Back — is permissible, but in bed and alone.

Sheridan Morley

If nobody's watching, white coffee with a large brandy — sometimes all in the one mug to save washing up or appear conti- nental, at least to myself. Otherwise the water in the tooth-mug, before rather than after cleaning teeth. Sometimes nothing at all, which is my only real con- cession to any form of diet. After dinner parties, whatever is left in glasses, though this only applies to dinner parties held in one's own flat. Elsewhere it is apt to cause comment.

Frank Keating

Well into his 80s, my dad contentedly Signed off each day in his armchair in front of Newsnight (or Pot Black) and alongside two mighty large, golden and successive 6-inch slugs of Bell's whisky. Never more, never less. One morning in 1988, Mum woke to find him dead in the chair — spirit departed in both senses, but a smile of serenity on his good old face. Since when, each and every night, I contrive serenely to toast his memory with (at least) two whacking biggies of the same brew.

Ursula Buchan

As I often have a raging thirst at bed- time, induced by drinking recession-beat- ing Bulgarian cabernet sauvignon, I have a glass of apple juice. This is delivered every other day by the milkman, and is made with apple-pulp squeezings, from more than one EEC country of origin. It cannot be recommended too highly.

Simon Courtauld

I don't always keep it at home, because it tends to go too quickly, but my favourite drink before bed is malt whisky, with a little water — from a bottle or, even bet- ter, from your own well. I was brought up to drink a glass of milk last thing at night, which is to be recommended after a large alcoholic intake during the evening.

Giles Auty

Today the idea of a regular nightcap may strike many as fogeyish in the extreme, indulged in principally by those who sport braces with their pyjamas. As I drink nothing stronger than wine nor less stimulating than coffee, I find only a suf- ficient quantity of the former actively aids sleep.

Simon Heifer

I have never reconciled myself to the concept of hot drinks, with the exception of hot chocolate, which my wife forbids me because it is too fattening. Alcohol in any form keeps me awake. So I tend to take a pint of lemon barley water shortly before bed, especially if I have been drinking, since it wards off dehydration. Of course, at my age, one has a bladder that can cope with that sort of punish- ment late at night: it might not be an option in 30 years' time.

Dominic Lawson

If anything, a cup of reheated percolated breakfast coffee. Being a rather ineffi- cient worker, I usually have bits of read- ing to do at the day's end. That last caf- feine kick is enough to keep the eyes open and the brain half functioning for a good half hour. Tea would probably do the job just as well but that would require brewing afresh, and it would be depress- ing to wake up to see a cold, stagnant pot.