MxMo XCIV That's Not A Martini: Recapitulation

C'mon now, you didn't think I'd call this a "roundup" now did you? This past monday was the virtual cocktail party known as Mixology Monday.  I challenged everyone to present a Martini that is more than a Martini. Anyway, on with the hat parade:



 First, and (UPDATE: no longer) frustrating for me, is Craig Eliason with his entry on eGullet: The Girly-O Martini. Here's a link instead as well to the Kindred Cocktails listing he's made. A rejiggered Gilroy. Too bad I'm out of Heering, I like the sound of this one!

Next The Boozenerds present a savoury offering and a citrusy one: North Of The Wall and Hot House. Any time whisky and olives can be combined I (perversely) enjoy it!

Brenda Sharpe of 4:00 Delicious Cocktail Time makes some deft substitutions and presents us with Elmakule Martiki. Definitely not a Martini! ...also not not a Martini. ;)

The cocktailian, epicurean, anesthesioligist, Gary "Doc" Elliot presents us with two drinks. One to fight malaria and one to promote good digestion, perhaps. The Gin-n-Tini takes the fizz out of a GnT and, well you'll see. Perhaps you'd rather get your feet wet (or not) with The Wellington. I imagine it's like Motorhead in a glass...

Despite the criticism Marius Iordache of Arcane Potions gives his own drink it's not "all thumbs''! In fact it may be necessary for me  to pick up a new liqueur so I too can imbibe a Green Thumb Martini.

Our fearless leader Fred Yarm of Cocktail Virgin Slut leafs through his impressive library and gives us a Louisiana named drink on this the Monday before Shrove Tuesday... or maybe sometimes a red stick is just a red stick. 

Next Matthew of Augustine-Bar puns it up with an Alginquin (yes, you read that right). Gin and pineapple, would that not be nice?

Also from Germany is the mysterious host of Swizzzzzzzlesticks. Oops, I may have added too many zeds! Here we have a spicy little number of which some components are round and pink: the Madras. You'll need to plan ahead but, whoa boy!

Bespectacled Ian Lauer of Tempered Spirits gives us what a Scandinavian James Bond might drink while gambling in China, or not.  The Shanghai. (I wanted to comment about the photos but do you think I could remember my wordpress password?)

Back in Ontario Whitney Munro of Tipicular Fixin's gets down and dirty with Preserved Lemon Dirt. As a weekend kitchen project I may have to give this one a try! 

Hilary of Spirited Away brings us La Fee Verte Martini. A vermouth split, an Absinthe rinse, why am I not drinking this right now? Oh, right, I'm not at home. All I've got is Beau's LugTread and some Kirsch... Anyway, this is the drink I wish I had presented but I didna. And it's from a MxMo first timer too, good show!

So what did I come up with? What's Dagreb's hat upon a Martini? Well, it's not a men's magazine that's for sure! A less cluttered Twentieth Century I stirred up a Maxim.

Tiki-slinger exceptionnel, my longtime Mixoloseum and twitter compatriot JFL of Rated R Cocktails tempts me and taunts me that my homemade creme de banane won't be good enough for his Mane'o Keke Martini. We shall see, we shall see.

The alchemist at The Shrubbery, Beca, makes no bonds about it and shakes up The Canticle Of Bond complete with bitters I haven't got and an intriguing shrub!

FrogPrincesse, Parisienne by way of San Diego, at Tartines To Tikis gives us a true twist with the Plum Blossom Martini. 

Regular MxMo host and contributor Andrea of Ginhound smokes us out with spiced gin and Ardbeg in, wait for it, her Smoky Martini. There's also a hint of Tiki Month in the post, check it out!

So there you have it folks- wait, what? Oh yes, the stragglers:

Muse asked for an extension. Since I wouldn't be able to do a proper write up until week's end I figured missing the deadline was no big deal. Besides, there's always a guest or two who's late to the party. So what have we got?

Muse of Doom at Feu de Vie uses my favourite descriptor of this MxMo: "Your proboscis will discover much herbacity" when alluding to the aroma of her Kyprian Pirate (no, no, not Kypreos). Arrack and pastis and rose water, oh my!

Staggering straggling in a week behind schedule is Laura of Sass & Gin with what I at first thought (through poor reading comprehension) was a Half-Montgomery (or would that be a double Montgomery?) but is actually a sweet Martini. Why not try it... and get your feet wet! ;)

  

Much thanks to Fred for taking my theme suggestion seriously. Thank you to all the contributors for a great Mixology Monday! If I've neglected anyone please let me know by commenting here or on the announcement post or by tweeting me @dagreb.

Cheers!.

Submission To: Mixology Monday XCIV: That's Not A Martini

That rascal Dagreb has challenged us (for Mixology Monday) to make a Martini that's not a Martini. Not in that adding "tini" as a suffix way but in the way that The Income Tax is not a Bronx but is still a Bronx. Or is it The Bronx?

So, a Martini that's more than itself but still identifiable as itself? Like a really good cover version of a song! Anyway, on with the show.

After several failed delicious experiments I settled on a drink. It occurred to me that a lemon twist might be a nice addition but it's really not needed.

Maxim
1 oz dry vermouth
1.5 oz dry gin
0.5 tsp creme de cacao

Stir well with ice. Strain in to a chilled coupe. No garnish.

Adapted from Esquire Drink Book

(Had I not watched myself add the cacao I don't know that I'd have noticed it in the drink. As it was I could tell there was… something but couldn't quite place it.)

There you have it. No juice. No bitters. No garnish. Taxi cab interior and a big block… and a kitschy air freshener.

Cheers!

Mixology Monday XCIV: That's Not A Martini!

A Telecaster's not an Esquire. A Melody Maker's not a Les Paul Jr. A Marauder ain't a Crown Vic. A Blue Moon is no Martini… well, almost. 

Take away the dash to a quarter ounce of Creme Yvette and we're left with gin (a must!), dry vermouth, and orange bitters. That's a Martini! It's at least one canonical Martini anyway. 

This month's Mixology Monday theme is that which is almost, but not quite, a Martini. Perhaps there are dashes (or more) of a liqueur (or two) added to the basic structure. Perhaps a Fino Sherry (or other fortified/aromatized wine) is standing in for vermouth. Maybe there's Oxygene instead of bitters? Gin, certainly! 

Use your imagination! Use your library! Make a Martini, that's wearing a hat! 

So how do you participate?

- Discover or invent a recipe that is almost, but more than, a Martini. There must be gin!

- Include the MxMo logo and a link back to Mixology Monday and Nihil Utopia in your post. 

- Alert me of your submission in the comments on this blog-post or tweet me @dagreb (with the hashtag #MxMo please). 

- The deadline will be Monday February 16th… ish. That Monday is a holiday here in Ontario so it's conceivable I'll be "not checking my blog."

Cheers!

mixología Lunes xciii: azul

This month the theme is blue. Our host is Andrea at Ginhound. "Feel free to interpert blue as freely as you wish" eh? Haha! 

First I made a Blue Monday. It wasn't blue. It was good but perhaps suits a future theme. The Best Year is good, to sip while listening to 10cc. If the music is over before the drink is pitch the rest of the drink in the sink. If the drink is over first, well…

I made a Blue Hawaiian or was it a Blue Hawaii? It doesn't matter. 

I was going to make a Blue Monday as found in the Esky Drink Book but it really isn't that good, or my kinda thing. The instructions that "coloring may be omitted" was appealing in a subversive way though. 

Then The Muse mentioned azul and Cazadores. I bought tequila. I bought reposado intending to try something akin to Dave Stolte's Repo Alexander orAlejandro de Oaxaca but it seemed it's still having it's kinks worked out. (I suppose I could have presented it and helped un-kink it but who am I kidding? I don't like things un-kink! ;) ) 

So I give you this drink. What's blue? The agave. A photo negative if it might also be blue I suppose. 

Rosita In Repose
1.5 oz Tequila reposado 
1 oz Campari
0.5 oz vermut da Torino 
0.5 oz vermouth de Chambéry 
1 dash Angostura bitters 

Build in an old fashioned glass. Stir with cracked ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Recipe adapted from The Jerry Thomas Project …of all places! 

Cheers!

Mix Moe Ninety Two: Pommes

This may take a while so first make yourself one these:

Coronation
1 oz Calvados
1 oz French vermouth
1 oz Italian vermouth 
1 dash apricot brandy
Agitate cooly and sieve. 

Recipe adapted from Esquire Drink Book, 1956 edition. 

Damn! I did that backwards. Likely that drink was precisely what you came here for. Vermouth and more vermouth! I should have saved that drink for the end, oh well... 

If you're still interested in reading something please read my story. 

It's MxMo time time again hosted by our benevolent curator/convenor Fred "Fear The" Yarm. Do you read Cocktail Sleuth? You should. Anyway the theme this time is apples. I thought about cider and then I thought about Jack Barnes and Lady Ashley. So to my bookshelf I went and looked in Philip Greene's book. 

You see, drinking fine a l'eau had been (all too) easy to do while reading The Sun Also Rises. Drinking Spanish wine also (theoretically) easy to do. A Jack Rose though? Hard to come by around here. There is no applejack. Most of the year there is only one brand of calvados but as the holidays approach more brands appear. 

"Why not pick up a bottle?" I asked myself. 

I chose the least expensive calvados available in my city. This may or may not have been wise. On it's own I dislike it; in a cocktail I love it. The mysterious alchemy of cocktails…

Anyway! Although a certain avuncular blogger eschews using calvados in a Jack Rose we needn't worry about that. The Jack Rose is one of those drinks that the cognoscenti ought to be drinking… for some reason. Each time I'd come across it in a blog or what have you I'd be a little sad that I couldn't have one. So, observing the signs, I decided to finally have one. 

The combination of having just (literally) finished reading The Sun Also Rises and noticing the announcement post sealed the deal. I finally added apple Brady to the bar! Yes, I'll turn in my cocktailian card. Can I continue on probation? 

…
…

Funny, I expected an answer. Perhaps from a sock puppet. Oh well. On with the show. 

I'm not making the "usual" Jack Rose. No, no. Not even. I'm making the Harry MacElhone one which Philip Greene surmises would have been what Jack Barnes would have been drinking. Besides, it's Paris, in the 1920s. It'd be calvados not applejack! 

Jack Rose
1.5 oz Calvados
0.75 oz dry gin
0.75 oz orange juice
0.75 oz lemon or lime juice
2 tsp French vermouth
2 tsp Italian vermouth
2 tsp grenadine

Shake; strain; twist

Recipe adapted from To Have And Have Another.

If you want mystery and deliciousness use lime. If you want apple, vermouth, and crowd pleasing use lemon. Garnish with an appropriate twist. Hell, garnish with an inappropriate twist! Either way Brett's not going to sleep with Jake. 

Cheers!
Be well! 

MxMo: Ecksy Eye: Shim Sham

Our challenge this month is to present a shim. No, not a sham. A shim. Not even a shim sham (Ethiopian or otherwise). A shim. A low alcohol libation. Peruse the announcement post won't you? The only proper shim I've ever made is theRhum Dandy Shim but since being blogged by Fred is like being covered by Killdozer I opted to choose another. 

As much as I wanted to present Art Linkletter's Papaya Cocktail I'll save it for another time. Instead, on the heels of the Bitter Sweet I bring you (no, not the Addington) the:

Trocadero
1/2 dry vermouth
1/2 sweet vermouth 
1 dash grenadine 
1 dash orange bitters 

Stir well with ice. Strain in to a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry. Squeeze lemon peel on top. Enjoy in a preprandial manner before, perhaps, chateaubriand… or kale & smelt, or whatever is the fashion in your diocese.

There you have it. Well, I think you know how my MxMo entries are going to go for the foreseeable future. 

Mixology Monday Ecksy

What is perfect? To me it will always mean a drink with an even split of sweet and dry vermouth. Joel has broadened things and allowed for splitting of spirits and modifiers in this month's MxMo. I for one am sticking with vermouth. I thought it a shame that I'd already used the Perfect Cocktail once before until I stumbled upon Bitter Sweet, that is. You may find differing recipes or ratios (such as at cocktaildb.com) but I wet with the recipe in Schumann's American Bar. 

Bitter Sweet
1 oz vermouth rosso 
1 oz dry vermouth
dashes of orange bitters 
orange peel 

Stir; strain; up; twist 

Notes: 
I used Carpano Classico and Dolin Dry. I also used New York style "50-50" bitters. Use the clearest ice you can acquire. Stir "gently and extensively" in a mixing glass filled with cubed and cracked ice. Perhaps use the method found in The Bar Book. Perhaps useThe Speakista Martini Method. Be sure to chill your coupe while assembling and mixing. Strain as if your name were Fluval. Rub the peel around the rim of the glass, if you enjoy such things, before adding to the drink. Enjoy! Then have something to eat. 

Cheers!
Be well!