There is a new martini in town

So it's come to this.

There is an ebb and flow to everything in life.. and your choice of drinks, alcoholic or otherwise, is not excepted from this maxim of existence. Per my posts the past couple of months, you know I'm a big fan of well-crafted beer (especially those from the US). And, I still am. However, I've been partaking of more cocktails (and the occasional shot) lately; and the base of choice, um, spiritually speaking, has been gin.

Eric Asimov, chief wine critic of the NYTimes, has mentioned that "gin is more of a thinking person’s spirit (at least, versus vodka)." And I tend to agree (but that's probably just because the taste of most gins agree with me). In this way (and beyond his fame from wine), he's done his fair share of tastings in all manner of libations, including an 80 martini lunch a few months ago; a few of his highly-gustative friends helped with the endeavor.

While I've not reached his level of commitment, I have been reacquainting myself with the venerable martini; in fact, two came my way last night, one with a twist (at Elixir) and one with a plastic spike of olives (at Skylark). I prefer the latter.. so much so that I bought some nice (and organic) green olives this morning to be able to make my own version at home. But I haven't stopped there; I have a few other goodies as well..

Just recently, an interesting martini recipe caught my eye on Chow (though, ultimately, the recipe comes from the James Bond Casino Royale movie). Most simply provide a starting point for the ratios of gin to vermouth to water, but this one goes beyond - without totally destroying the essence of the drink (ex. appletini's ain't martinis).

So, may I present to you The Vesper:

INGREDIENTS

* 3 ounces Gordon's gin
* 1 ounce vodka
* 1/2 ounce Kina Lillet
* Green olives or twist of lemon peel

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Shake the gin, vodka, and Lillet with ice; then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with green olives or lemon peel.

It seems easy enough, but there is a problem with the ingredient list: you actually can't buy Kina Lillet anymore; it is a discontinued styling from the Lillet family of apéritif wines. So, you have to substitute Lillet Blanc instead; some would even say to add a few drops of bitters to more closely approximate the original Kina recipe. And if you haven't made a martini before - or have, but haven't thought that much about the process - note that you can widely vary the taste of the final drink by adjusting the size of your ice cubes OR the time that you are shaking all the ingredients together. You see, the shake with ice not only chills the drink, but it also imparts a component of water to "mellow" some of the alcoholic bite; the longer you shake or the smaller the ice, the more water ends up in the final product. Ultimately, it's personal taste on how much you'd like to add.

It's little things like this that make such a simple cocktail a difficult one to master. In any case, I'll let you know how my home experiments go.. with olives, of course. But if you want a twist of lemon or orange, we can make that happen as well. Again, I got all the goodies. And beyond olives, twists and Lillet, I've picked up some delicious new - new to the US, anyway - tonic water from Fever Tree and some spicy ginger beer. I think my gin and tonic (or gin and ginger) - and, therefore, my taste buds - never had it so good.

As for my (large-ish) stash of beer in the fridge (and in my cabinets), don't worry.. they will not go to waste. OHH NO! Regardless of my current hard-stuff leanings, sometimes you just want a beer. Plus I have thirsty friends (thirsty for beer, that is); and who am I to say no to a drinking sesh with them? haha.

ps. Martini's also make me a better dancer; who knew? ;)