Blood Orange Paloma

Tags

Cocktail, Paloma

Blood orange, blood orange juice, and blood orange soda seems to have become a fad recently, and I am jumping on this bandwagon. I always feel ridiculous following a trend, but this is “All Drinks Considered” and not “Obscure Drinks Considered” or “Only Hipster Cocktails Allowed.” I would read “Only Hipster Cocktails Allowed” because you know that blog would be hilarious.

I have been working with blood orange soda recently and my luck has been mixed, until this drink. It’s a variation on the Paloma, which I wrote about last week. This got great reviews when introduced at a cocktail party recently.

1 oz 100% Blue Agave Reposada Tequila.

1/2 ounce lime juice

3 oz Blood Orange Soda

4 drops Angustora Bitters

Place all ingredients in a tumbler over ice. Stir gently with a spoon.

The Review

I have found blood orange soda to be a difficult ingredient to work with. It’s like a two year old, great by itself, but does not play well with others. Like many citrus flavors, blood orange soda goes great with tequila. The proportions listed above are important to follow, because if you add more tequila, the tequila overwhelms the other ingredients and it becomes less palatable really quickly. The tequila and the bitters counterbalances the soda’s sweetness into a refreshing and slightly complicated cocktail. I would serve this cocktail over the paloma, because it’s better balanced and is a more complicated drink in terms of its flavor profile, but not more complicated to make. I found it to be more refreshing and just a prettier drink.

Cost

750 mL bottle of 100% pure agave Reposada Tequila: $20

750 mL bottle of Blood Orange Soda from World Market: $2.50

1 lime: 0.50

Angostura Bitters: $7.19 for a 4 oz bottle.

Total Cost: $30.19

Cost per drink:

$0.72 cents for 1 ounce of silver tequila.

$0.30 cents for 3 ounces Jarritos grapefruit soda.

$0.50 for 1/2 ounce lime juice

$0.01 Angostura bitters

Cost per drink: $1.53

Any other great drink recipes with blood orange soda? Leave them below in the comments. Otherwise, happy and safe drinking.

 

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Paloma

Tags

Cocktail, Jarritos, Mexican cuisine, Paloma, Tequila

I was introduced to the Paloma or Tequila con toronja  by my husband (or husband/lover/partner/fiance/person who pisses me off sometimes) depending on who I’m talking to and the situation. So, this drink is really his. Michael is a temporarily retired world traveler (at least of the many people I know). He has lived in Mexico, Ecuador, and Prague, on top of the good ole U.S. of A. His passport would look like this:

(Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/allesok/2580013511/sizes/o/in/photostream/)

if they wouldn’t have been lost, stolen, and expired.

I, on the other hand, have just left the US once. To go to Mexico. My passport has the same number of stamps on it as the envelope to pay your cable bill. So when we leave the American cocktail culture, I have to defer to other’s infinite wisdom, and Michael is who I usually have on hand for this.

Fifteen years ago, when Michael first lived abroad in Mexico, he was a young thing of eighteen who had just finished his freshman year of college at Kansas State and rather than returning to ranching for the summer, he scurried abroad to Mexico. At 18, you could drink in Mexico, but, being 18, Michael’s experience with alcohol was pretty limited to shots of Malibu rum and cheap beer. Rather than continuing in these American dormitory traditions, Michael followed the tastes of the locals and had for the first, but the not the last, time a paloma.

In the same way, we in the US would never heard a Cape Cod and instead order a vodka and cranberry, the same is true of the paloma. Michael never ordered it as a “paloma” but instead a “Tequila con toronja” or Trente-Trente con toronja. Literally this translates to “tequila with grapefruit” (the soda is implied) or Trente-Trente (a brand of tequila) with grapefruit.

1 oz 100% pure agave silver tequila.

1/2 oz lime juice

3 ounces Grapefruit soda.

Place all ingredients in a tumbler over ice. Stir gently with a spoon.

Review

This is a drink that should be made with silver tequila and not gold or aged tequila. Gold tequila will throw off the balance of the cocktail, as the infused flavor challenges the flavor of the grapefruit soda. Also, you should use 100% agave tequila in all tequila drinks. If it’s not 100% pure agave tequila, don’t bother. 100% pure agave tequila is not that much more money, but the uptick in quality is highly noticeable, especially in your at home bars. If you’re out drink whatever kind of shitty tequila you’re willing to pay for. 

I normally am not one to talk about the importance of soda. I am a big fan of Squirt or Fresca, unlike Michael. However, the Jarritos brand of grapefruit soda is fantastic. The difference between Jarritos and the more American sodas I think makes a big difference. Michael likes Squirt and Fresca, so he’s fine either way, but he did really enjoy with Jarritos soda. I find Jarritos in the Mexican food aisle of the Food Lion (a local grocery store) but it can probably also be found at other grocery stores that sell Mexican goods. I think with Jarritos grapefruit soda, a paloma is a pretty good drink, but not a great one. I would never make it to impress anyone, but I would make a pitcher if I were having people over for Mexican food who didn’t want to get drunk so we skipped the margaritas. Even though I don’t think a paloma is great, it’s important to know about, because it serves as a foundation for other cocktails and what the drink can accomplish is sometimes as important as the drink itself.

Next week, we’ll be doing a twist on the paloma.

Cost

750 mL bottle of 100% pure silver tequila: $18

1 12 ounce bottle of Jarritos grapefruit soda. : $0.70

1 Lime $0.50

Total cost: $19.50

Cost per drink:

$0.72 cents for 1 ounce of silver tequila.

$0.18 cents for 3 ounces Jarritos grapefruit soda.

$0.50 for 1/2 ounce lime juice

Total cost per drink: $1.40

Super cheap drink.

As always, happy and safe drinking.

The Reverse Martini

Tags

Cocktail, Julia Child, Lillet, Martha Stewart, martini

Greetings from the other side of DC and yet another year of graduate school. Somehow I could continuously update during my first year of law school, but library school — otherwise known as the easy graduate program I’m in — totally escaped me, and there went a year. A thanks to all of my readers and Pinterest Pins who have stayed faithful (or discovered me on Google) while I strayed to graduate school, Kansas, Florida, and DC and picked up my life after my apartment building caught fire. Y’all have been very sweet, while I have been very distracted. Thank you, and on to the real reason you’re here: The Reverse Martini.

Cocktail Urban legend has this as Julia Child’s favorite cocktail. I’ve read My Life in France, As Always, Julia, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking and have yet to find evidence of its truthfulness. But, we never let the truth get in the way of a good story, so onward and upward.

Julia Child is purported to have this as her favorite cocktail. She would drink it while cooking and would serve it with appetizers. Her reason was that (1) it tasted good and (2) the drink with stimulate the appetite. Julia Child, as someone intimately concerned with food, would have thought this drink balanced nicely without intoxicating the drinker before the mail. As is so far the case with Mrs. Child, I have yet to find her wrong.

Reverse Martini

3 oz Lillet
3/4 oz Hendricks Gin
2 dashes orange bitters.

Shake over ice and strain into a martini class.

Review

Lillet is a relative of vermouth, so if you have had vermouth or the perfect than you have an idea of that this drink tastes like. If you have not had either, than it is difficult to describe the flavor, as it is unlike most other food or drink I have otherwise tasted. As an ingredient, vermouth and lillet are mysteries. Few people know all of the ingredients, and there are perhaps to many to guess.

The drink runs counter to the current American tradition of relying on the sweet and not the savory, so it is a gift to American cocktail culture, especially those who have drinks before dinner. Also, don’t pay attention to the drink that Martha Stewart calls a reverse martini in Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook. That’s a wet martini, not a reverse martini.

The Lillet is sharp but clean and even with a decent gin the aftertaste fades quickly. While the Lillet recipe calls for Hendricks gin, I have found Beef Eater works just as well. Remember the orange bitters, or you will be doing yourself a disservice.

This drink should be a stand by for anyone who serves hors d’oeuvres before dinner. Don’t take my work for it. Have faith in Julia Child.

Cost:

$22 Lillet Rouge for a 750 mL bottle
$18 Beefeater gin for a 750 mL bottle OR
$35 Hendricks Gin for a 750 mL bottle
$6 Orange Bitters

$46 if made with Beefeater Gin
$63 if made with Hendricks Gin

Cost per Drinks
$2.57 for Lilet
$0.53 for Beefeater Gin
$1.03 for Hendricks gin
$0.01 for Orange Bitters

$3.11/drink if made with Beefeater Gin.
$3.61/drink if made with Hendricks Gin

As always, happy and safe drinking.

The Boulevardier

Tags

Boulevardier, Campari, Cocktail, Drink, Manhattan, Vermouth

Welcome to finals countdown. I can’t believe I’m almost a fourth of the way done with graduate and law school. It seems like only yesterday I was writing my application, frantically freaking, and praying for an acceptance letter. Two semesters (almost) down, only six to go. Recently I’ve been feeling more and more like this is the profession that I was destined for. I feel supported by my classmates and professors. My intellectual curiosity remains unsatiated. Legal librarianship is not for everyone, but the profession is certainly for me.

On that note, I drink more often during finals that I do any other time of the year. It is not uncommon for me to have a single drink every night during finals, which is not what I do during the rest of the year. It’s a weird thing about finals. I think it’s because my brain turns to mush while I’m studying. So, I thought I would try a Boulevardier. It’s a variation on a Manhattan, and if you’ve followed my blog since the beginning, you know how I love my Manhattans in all incarnations.

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth

Add all ingredients to a shaker over ice. Pour into a martini glass.

Evaluation

So, unsurprisingly, I am addicted to Imbibe‘s website. Imbibe is Vogue for cocktails. It’s a Bible for the liquor world. Imbibe’s website often challenges me to extend my tastes. When I found the recipe for the Boulevardier on Imbibe’s website I was super excited.

As I have mentioned before, Campari is an incredibly difficult liqueur for me to use to make drinks. I feel the same way about Campari that straight men feel about women. It’s frustrating, complicated, and obnoxious. When you strike out, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. However, when it works, like in a Campari Cosmopolitan, it is a beautiful thing to behold. The Boulevardier is a strike out drink.

It’s too bad, too, because it held so much promise. It was a variation on a Manhattan. It was herbal and had bourbon and vermouth. It was not afraid of a strong flavor profile. The drink looks beautiful, as well. Ultimately, the drink fell flat.

Imbibe has a good history of the drink. It’s very clearly a 1920s drink. It’s very clearly European. It’s just too much. There’s too much going on in the drink. The drink with all of its promise is like buying tickets to a heavyweight championship boxing match and watching a brawl of all competitors to the title. It can be fun, but you miss the beauty of the punches and the simplicity of a stand-up fight. It’s just too much. I won’t drink it again, and, as sometimes I am wont to do, I wanted to warn you away. However, if you want to try it, here’s how much it costs:

Cost:

The cost to purchase:

Campari: $35 for a 750 mL bottle

Sweet Vermouth: $8 for a 750 mL bottle

Bourbon (I’m currently drinking Jim Bean): $15 for a 750 mL bottle

Total Cost: $58 if you have no ingredients.

Cost per drink:

Campari: $1.40

Sweet Vermouth: $0.32

Jim Bean Bourbon: $0.90

Total Cost per Drink: $2.62

Personally, I can think of a better way to spend $2.62. There’s a $2.00 movie theater around the corner from my current apartment, or a $1.00 sushi restaurant around the corner from my new apartment. But, that’s the cost and the recipe if you want to see how our tastes match up.

Until next time, happy and safe drinking.

The Dark and Stormy

Tags

Cocktail, Dark 'N' Stormy, Ginger beer, New Year, New year resolution, Rum

The New Year

So, it’s now 2012 and it’s a time for New Year’s Eve resolutions.

I’ve come up with a few of my own:

1)      To stop being so unruly when intoxicated

2)      To read one of the five following books, which I’ve been attempting to read since 1998

1. Lolita
2. Les Miserables
3. Don Quixote
4. Anna Karenina
5. Divine Comedy

3)      To average 1 blog post per week (hopefully every Tuesday at 5:00 pm)

4)      To stop ignoring my bar except to get really drunk. (I must dust the bar every time I use it.)

5)      To get out of my law school bubble. After visiting Michael and I’s families over Christmas, I have definitely entered a law school bubble where that is the only thing that I can talk about. I once was an interesting person. I should find that person again.

So those are my Resolutions for 2012.

Looking back at my Resolutions for 2011:

1)      Vegan Cocktails. I totally lost sight of that goal. I should probably get back into it because I think there’s an important need there for the vegan community that is not being met.

2)      International Cocktails: My “Indian Food and Indian Cocktails” and “Argentinian Sangria” are two of my most reviewed blog posts. I really should find some more of these. I wonder if there are any good Kenyan cocktails.

3)      Cocktails with food pairings. I never did do this, but I really wanted to. Michael and I should start pairing. I think we would have a good time playing cook and bartender together. Cocktails and food pairings should be the next frontier the way that food and wine have been paired together.

4)      Garnishes. I did do one blog about this last year.

5)      Updating more. I updated a lot more this year. I actually increased the number of page views by almost 5,500 in 2011. I know this is probably not a lot for some of the more popular websites, but considering I had 47 page views in 2010, I’ll take it.

6)      The ones I did not post in my blogs include: get into law school and graduate school. I definitely did that in spades.

So, those are my current New Year’s Resolution and a review of my New Year’s Resolutions from last year.  As I said earlier, I really enjoyed 2011 and am looking forward to 2012.

However, I’m going to create a resolution for some of the drinker’s last night. Can we start drinking well again? Can we get over our obsession with rum and coke and vodka tonics and mature some? We are now in our 20s and 30s, we are no longer 19. We can drink good drinks. We have the taste for them. We have the bank accounts for them. Can we please start?

So, to evolve.

The Dark and Stormy

2 oz. Dark Rum

4 oz. Ginger Beer

1 slice of lime.

Add ice to a glass. Pour dark rum and ginger beer over ice. Stir. Squeeze the lime slice.

Evaluation

I thought dark rum was awful, and I never understand the point of it until I had this drink. It’s an incredibly complicated and herbal beverage that challenges the taste buds. The ginger beer and the dark rum create a pleasant and surprising combination. The drink is surprisingly good for winter, instead of most other rum drinks which can only be consumed in the summer and the warm parts of fall and spring. I was really surprised at how complicated the flavors were. I am a big fan of the Dark and Stormy.

Michael liked the Dark and Stormy, however, he thought the lime juice distracted from the flavor as opposed to adding to it. I’m not sure I would agree, however, I liked it both ways.

Mary hated this drink, but, Mary general hates all dark liquors. I will never understand this and often feel like she is depriving herself of the deliciousness of half of the liquor family. For Mary, it’s really only vodkas, gins, light rums, and silver tequila, although she has finally opened herself up to whiskey.

Cost

750 mL bottle of Dark Rum: $20

4 12 oz. bottles of Ginger Beer: $5

Total cost: $25

I know it’s more than rum and coke by about $3, but can we step up our game and start drinking better? As a New Year’s Resolution, can we agree to throw away the rum and cokes and start drinking like the adults we are?

Until next time, happy and safe drinking.

Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 4)

Tags

Cocktail, Gin, martini, Vermouth, Vodka

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas and will have a Happy New Year. I wrote about New Year’s cocktails in 2009, and I’m just not feeling inspired for ringing in 2012. The cocktails are still amazing and unusual, so I strongly recommend you look at the post for a Champagne cocktail suggestion for New Years.  Both drinks are really easy and quick.

I’m writing this blog post in advance so I will be in Kansas traversing the eastern third of the state. I’ve realized that 2011 was a good year for me. I was out-of-town for about 9 weeks. I had a great time. I traversed the countryside and got into a really good law school. This year, I will be looking back at the great year I was fortunate enough to have. So, thank you who helped make this year great. At the time of writing, my blog is over 5,000 hits, which is crazy, because I hit just over 1,000 hits in May. It is certainly not the insanity of the millions of viral hits, but those hits are important. I have had a number of you tell me that I’m a great writer and you like reading the blog. I hope you have had as much fun reading this and encouraging me, as I have had writing it. I like and need this creative outlet into my brain.

This year, I’m feeling simple, which is why I want to keep exploring the martini. A martini has few ingredients but somehow exists in infinite permutations. To quote H.L. Mencken, “The martini: the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet.” It’s a beautiful drink.

Evolution, Part 4: From Gin to Vodka

You can’t write about the martini, without writing about the evolution from gin to vodka. There are several theories of when the vodka martini first appeared in print. The first theory is that the vodka martini recipe appeared in a 1939 advertisement for “Vodka Kiprisky.” This theory is perpetuated by Ted Haigh, in his book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. He is also the curator for the Museum of the American cocktail.  However, in Straight up or on The rock: The story of the American Cocktail  by William Grimes, he states that the vodka martini was originally put in print in 1934 in Esquire in their article “Top 10 Best Cocktails of 1934.” I cannot find a copy of that ad, but I emailed the Museum of the American Cocktail, and they sent me a copy of the recipe as printed in 1934. They also have a great blog, which I highly recommend.

In 1934, the year after Prohibition, the drink was originally called the vodka cocktail. From the recipe, though, this obviously evolves from the martini, that not including it would be doing you a disservice. It is one of the few times I will include a drink not called the martini, but you’ll see why.

So, on to the first time that I have found that the vodka martini ever appeared in print.

The Vodka Cocktail

3 parts Vodka

1/2 part Italian (or dry) vermouth

1/2 part French (or sweet) vermouth)

Stir over ice. Strain into a martini glass.

Evaluation

It’s interesting because we see vodka merging with the tastes of pre and post-Prohibition era gin martinis. In Part 2, the drink was half gin and half vermouth, but either kind of vermouth could be used. Here we see an example of a perfect martini where the types of vermouth are in equal proportions. The drink is also clearly influenced by the post-Prohibition martini, written about in Part 3, martinis moved away from the half gin, half vermouth from the early days.

This drink is a 3 to 1, so think is totally my speed, but as we all know this drink was quickly abandoned. I recommend it to the vermouth lovers out there, but there are so few of us left.

This martini necessitates a proper bottle of vodka. My personal favorite is Ketel One, so prices will be based on that vodka.

Cost

Vodka: $25 per 750 mL bottle

Dry Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Sweet Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Total cost: $41.

As always, happy and safe drinking.

 

Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 3)

Tags

Cocktail, Gin, martini, Vermouth

So, I’m done with law school finals, and I get to pretend to have a life again! I’m hoping to get my blog in order, so that way it’s not 3 blog posts in a week and then zero for the next few months.

So, I have no idea how finals went. For those of you who were smart enough not to go to law school or talk to law school students, this is how exams work. You walk in feeling prepared, and then the one small point about the law is the one not in your outline, and then you’re graded against everyone else. Law school finals are a real curve and not a fake curve in undergraduate when the curve meant “The highest grade missed 4 points, so we’re moving everyone’s grade up by 4.” It’s a real bell curve with a target median. So not only do you not know how you did on the final, but you have no idea how you did relative to each other. It’s a sadistic little system.

But on to more important things:

Evolution of the Martini, Part 3

In Part 1, we looked at a martini recipe from 1895. Then we moved into Prohibition in Part 2, and looked at martini recipes from 1934, but that focused on how Martinis were made during Prohibition.

Now, we’re going to take a look at a post-Prohibition cocktail, although it’s from a book published the same year. 1934 was a big year for cocktails. The next, which will be the recipe for the first published vodka martini, is from Esquire from 1934, which makes sense because the 21st Amendment which repealed Prohibition, passed in December 1933.

Prohibition was probably the most defining moment of how Americans drank liquor of the 20th century. In 1934, everything changed. As we’ll see below, there was no more bathtub gin, spirits like brandy could be brought in from France, alcohol tasted better and was less likely to kill you. Americans went back to wanting to taste the booze.

So, from Burke’s Complete Cocktail & Drinking Recipes by Harman Burney Burke, published 1934

The Martini

2 oz Gin

1 tsp French Vermouth

Orange Bitters

Place all ingredients over ice. STIR. Pour into a martini glass.

Evaluation

As we can see, this is a huge shift away from the Prohibition cocktail, which was half gin and half vermouth. The martini is getting a lot drier. So, if you know anyone who likes a 12 to 1 martini, they like the 30s martini.

As many of my readers know, I am a gin martini fan, however, I like my vermouth. I am not afraid of it. So this martini is too dry for me. Although, I think it beats the vermouth rinse martini or my least favorite: the vaporizing of vermouth across the room from the glass martini. Or, as I like to call it, “I don’t want to admit that I really just want gin shaken on the rocks, but I’m not an alcoholic” martini.

Cost

I think the less vermouth you use, the better the gin needs to be. I would go with Hendricks, Tanqueray, or Bombay.

Gin: $30 per 750 mL bottle

Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Orange bitters: $5 per 12 oz bottle.

Total cost: $43

As always, happy and safe drinking.

Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 2)

Tags

Cocktail, Cocktail glass, Drink, Gin, martini, Orange bitters, Vermouth

Like I said in my last post, we’re starting at the beginning of the martini and moving forward through time. In Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 1), I found the oldest recipe for a martini that I could find and moved forward.

Now, we’re onto the Martini from the 1930s.

We also see the “Dry Martini” come into development for the first time.

These two drink recipes are from What Shall We Drink? by Magnus Bredenbek (1934)

The Martini (for 2)

3/4 of a glass of a cocktail glass of sweet gin

3/4 of a glass of Dry or Sweet Vermouth

Sweeten with “gum” to taste

4 dashes of orange bitters

The “Dry” Martini

3/4 of a glass of a cocktail glass of sweet gin

3/4 of a glass of Dry or Sweet Vermouth (not the sweeter type)

Sweeten with “gum” to taste (but not as much as a Martini for 2)

4 dashes of orange bitters

Evaluation

Note: A standard martini glass is 4 oz.

Also note: gum or “gomme” syrup for mixed drinks is simple syrup that has added gum arabic.

We can see from the 30’s that there was a tendency to create a sweeter drink that we have returned to. I don’t use simple syrup in martinis because I feel like that removes the drink’s integrity. However, if the drink is too herbal or bitter for you, add simple syrup and tell people you’re drinking it 1930’s style.

Given how we think of dry martinis, this is obviously a misnomer. Our concept of a “dry” martini is nothing like this. But, since I’m pro vermouth, I obviously like both.

I’ve written about the American Classic, and we can tell that it comes from the 1930’s version of a martini. Rather than adding either French (sweet) or Italian (dry) vermouth, we add equal parts of both until the ratio is 1 part gin to 1 part vermouth.

I love these martinis.

Cost

The cost is about the same for each drink, so I’m going to do one.

Gin: $20 per 750 mL bottle

Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Orange bitters: $5 per 12 oz bottle.

Total Cost: $33

Cost per Drink:

Gin: $1.20

Vermouth: $0.48

Bitters: $0.01

Total Cost: $1.69

Total Cost: $0.85/drink.

A fun martini quote:

I love to drink Martinis,
Two at the very most
After three I’m under the table,
After four I’m under my host.

–Dorothy Parker

As always, happy and safe drinking. Next post: The Transition to vodka.

Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 1)

Tags

Cocktail, Gin, martini, Vermouth

Hello, again, Gentle Reader. It hasn’t been as long this time.

One of the things that they do stress in law school is how much you change, grow, and evolve during law school. The purpose of law school is to train you “to think like a lawyer” as my Criminal Law Professor tells us. The way they do this is incredibly painful. They take you as you are, strip you down to your barest essentials, and then build you back up in a thinking, breathing, lawyering machine. I get told this daily.

Evolution has been on my mind. Who we are. Who we were. The process of getting between those two. As it so often does, this makes me think about booze.

I’ve decided to do a serious on the martinis. As you know, I generally shy away from the classics, because everyone has written about them. We’re going to start from the very beginning.

Going back to 1895:

The Martini

The martini is iconic. Nick and Nora Charles throwing back martinis while solving a mystery. James Bond sipping while uncovering international plots designed to overthrow Western society. F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s The Great Gatsby. We associate the martini  with leisure and sophistication.  While that association with the martini has never left, would the original martini recognize itself?

The original martini was completely different in its inception than who it is now.

Looking at Modern American Drinks by George Kappeler (1895), this is the recipe for the Martini Cocktail:

1/2 jigger of Tom Gin

1/2 jigger Italian (dry) Vermouth

3 dashes bitters

Evaluation

Isn’t that crazy? I like vermouth, but I think this might almost be too much vermouth for me. I’ve never had it with this much Italian vermouth before, but I do like many of my martinis half liquor, half vermouth as you may remember from my American Classic or Manhattan, Perfect? post. But this is the original incantation of the martini. Or at least the earliest published martini recipe that I could find.

If anyone can an older martini recipe let me know.

Cost

It’s really difficult to find Old Tom’s Gin now. Although if anyone ever sees a bottle and wants to gift me a bottle, let me know.

Gin: $20 per 750 mL bottle

Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Orange bitters: $5 per 12 oz bottle.

Total Cost: $33

Cost per Drink:

1/2 jigger = 0.75 oz.

Gin: $0.60

Vermouth: $0.24

Bitters: $0.01

Total Cost: $0.85/drink.

As always, happy and safe drinking. Next up: the 1930’s cocktail!

Laziness and No Worries Mixer

Tags

Beverages, Cocktail, Margarita, Sour mix

Hello, again.

So I realized that I’ve been super lazy recently. I went downstairs to my bar last week, wiped away the layers of dust, and shuddered at my avoidance of my two favorite Bs: Bar and Blog. God, how has it been two weeks since I’ve updated my blog. Welcome to law school! It’s kind of crazy how life escapes me, as I’m reading case after  case after case. I’ve got lots to write about, because I have been back in the bar drinking, but all of my notes are at home as I type between cases at the law library. Not to be discouraged though! I have had something in my back pocket for a while.

No Worries Mixer

I  don’t like the original (and probably real) margarita recipe. I need the saccharine, syrupy kind. However, I don’t keep sour mix in my house, because I think it’s poison. What’s a boy to do? How do I save face but get the drink I want at home? The No Worries Mixer!

I normally hate cocktail mixes. It’s like the generic Hamburger Helper of cocktails. The No Worries Mixer is quite good. First, it’s incredibly cheap. Over the summer, Harris Teeter often had it on sale for $1. I strongly recommend buying 2, so you can make 34.5 oz and it’s easier to pour, because otherwise you have to measure out 5.75 oz.  Measuring that specific of an ounce is annoying. If you’re going to be lazy you might as go all the way.

I’ve only had two of them: the Margarita and the Island Blend.

I’m not sure what the Island Blend as a drink resembles, but it tastes good. I also have a lot of rum in my house, and have never been sure what to do with it. It’s a difficult liquor for me, because I’ve relegated it to the Caribbean and college frat parties that ended badly.

These two both taste great. And who doesn’t love a blended drink in the middle of summer? When it warms back up, I’ll probably have one myself to remind me of summer, when I had time.

As always, happy and safe drinking.