MARTINI: The Elixir Of Quietude

 

“I’m not talking a cup of cheap gin splashed over an ice cube. I’m talking satin, fire and ice; Fred Astaire in a glass; surgical cleanliness, insight… comfort; redemption and absolution. I’m talking MARTINI.”  ~ Anonymous

Martini aficionados, cocktail connoisseurs, famous actors, chic intellectuals, aristocrats, jet-setters, lounge lizards, gin-soaked barroom queens, and a legion of notorious hard-drinking writers have all waxed poetic about the liquid virtues of the Martini. In its purest form, a clean, simple, quintessential cocktail made from only gin and vermouth elegantly served in a chilled glass. Arguably one of the most iconic alcoholic beverages in the world this classy cocktail doesn’t just speak, it swears. Writer H.L. Mencken lavishly praised the martini as being…“the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet.” There’s no denying the Martinis popularity and longevity since today there are a seemingly infinite variety of contemporary Martini recipes based upon new ingredients along with a resurgence of American Prohibition era martini recipes from the years 1920 through 1933. Even people who never allow alcohol to touch their lips know what a Martini is.

What Is a Martini?

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”  ~ Humphrey Bogart

For the uninitiated, a Martini is a classic cocktail made by blending only two basic ingredients, A London Dry Gin and vermouth. Shake or stir these two spirits together, and garnish with either an olive or a lemon twist, then strain into a chilled Martini cocktail glass. The gin Martini is one of the most elegant and popular mixed alcoholic cocktails on the planet. While the dry gin Martini was popular from around 1910 to 1950, the vodka Martini rose in popularity from the 1950s onward and quickly gained ardent fans. Gin unquestionably remains the more classic traditional spirit as it presents a crisper botanical note. “Vegas Water,” a slang term for shots of vodka, is deemed to be smooth and silkier on the tongue. The debate rages on within the cocktail firmament as to which base spirit is superior in a Martini, but it truly all boils down to being a matter of personal taste.

Gin Craze

“Gin cursed fiend, with fury fraught; makes human race a prey; it enters by a deadly draught; and steals our life away.” ~ James Townley

Gin has somewhat of a checkered past due to the harmful effects gin-drinking was having on English society back in the mid-eighteenth century. The “Gin Craze” was blamed for misery, rising crime, madness, higher death rates, falling birth rates. Bawdy women became more hooked on gin than their male counterparts, which many believe contributed to an increase in child neglect and prostitution. Wet nurses also gave gin to babies in large doses to quieten them. Hence, the term “Mother’s Ruin” was coined in the late 19th Century as a sad commentary on this boozy period in history. And back then, the gin was roughly double what the proof of a modern gin is and also laced with sulfuric acid, turpentine and lime oil. It was death in a tankard because that’s how the alcoholic poison was consumed. William Hogarth’s famous 1751 print “Gin Lane” visually depicts all the debauchery and death of the craze at its peak when people were starving, mothers endangered their children, and desperate gin drinkers dug up dead bodies to sell their clothes and trinkets.

Bootleggers & Bathtub Gin

“Prohibition has made nothing but trouble.” ~ Al Capone

During the Prohibition era, “Bathtub Gin,” was used to describe any illegally produced homemade liquor in amateur conditions, but particularly gin, the most popular and easiest spirit to make. Contrary to its name, the ingredients of water, cheap grain alcohol, juniper berries, flavorings and other agents, such as juniper berry juice and glycerin was not actually mixed in a bathtub, but acquired this nickname because gin jugs were too large to fill beneath a sink tap, so a bathtub tap was needed.

Bathtub gin was basically a foul-tasting rotgut that had juniper berries mixed in to make the hooch more palatable. Bootleggers increasingly became more inventive making moonshine by cutting it with other ingredients such as methanol (wood alcohol) or even turpentine. So basically, drinkers were imbibing a low-grade toxic poison wherein a bad batch could cause nerve damage, blindness and death. Some enterprising bootleggers were would steal industrial alcohol and re-distill it for sale to speakeasies. Unfortunately, ten thousand or more people died from drinking repurposed alcohol that was originally intended for industrial use in cleaning products, gasoline, or paint.

The Murky Origins of Giggle Water

“One Martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough.” ~ James Thurber

Exactly who invented the original Martini cocktail to this day remains a riddle, shrouded in controversary, inside an enigma so murky it’s impossible to determine its true origin. New Yorker’s insist that a bartender at the Knickerbocker Hotel named Martini di Arma di Taggia invented the martini in 1911 and served it to oil tycoon and millionaire John D. Rockefeller who preferred his cocktail with London dry gin, dry vermouth, bitters, lemon peel and one olive. Some claim the cocktail may have gotten its name in 1863 when Italian vermouth maker “Martini and Rossi” marketed their vermouth under the brand name Martini. UK cocktail enthusiasts believe the Martini is derived from a British-made rifle called a Martini & Henry used by the English army between 1871 and 1891 because of its hard recoil.

Another legend claims that the cocktail was concocted at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco by Professor Jerry Thomas around 1850 for a miner who had stopped in for a drink during the 1800’s Gold Rush while on his way to the nearby town of Martinez, California. The miner apparently plonked a gold nugget on Jerry’s bar and challenged him to concoct something truly special. Thus, the Martinez Cocktail was born and it is believed to be a forerunner of the Martini because the recipe called for a full wine glass of sweet vermouth, one ounce of Old Tom Gin, some bitters and a dash or two of maraschino. Of course, the citizens living in Martinez, California, believe the martini was invented in 1870 by a Martinez bartender named Julio Richelieu. The story here is a miner was disenchanted with the whiskey he had been served and asked for something else. Richelieu mixed together a glass of gin, vermouth, orange, bitters, an olive, and Whoomp, there it is!… what Richelieu coincidentally named a Martinez Cocktail.

There are eight million stories in the naked city and these are just a few of them. While the answer to the question “Who invented the Martini?” may forever remain a mystery, what is known is some acknowledgment must go to Harry Craddock, author of the influential Savoy Cocktail Book. Published in 1930, Craddock included in his book a recipe for a “Dry Martini”. In spite of the Martinis uncertain origins, the drink had gained popularity during Prohibition due to how easy it was to illegally manufacture illicit bathtub gin, thus creating a huge market for the Martini cocktail craze in the mid-20th century. Flappers, a name given to liberated, glamorous, young women in the 1920’s, called it “Giggle Water,” one of many slang terms used for liquor during Prohibition. Back then, the most popular cocktail was a Martini heavy on the sweet vermouth. Presumably, to further mask the foul taste of bathtub gin.

Three-Martini Lunch

“The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?” ~ President Gerald Ford

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the “Three-Martini Lunch” referred to business lunches where martinis or other alcoholic cocktails are ordered. If you have ever watched “Mad Men,” a pre-feminist era TV series about the sin, swagger, and high-powered world of Madison avenue advertising executives who sipped their way through leisurely cocktail-soaked lunch deals you will have had a glimpse of how popular and widespread midday tippling was back in the 60s. And much to the chagrin of some politicians and non-Martini drinking working class, these lunches were a “business entertainment expense.” tax write-off.

As the 1970s dawned, the aspirational three Martini lunch ritual largely fell out of favor with businesses due to declining economic conditions and North Americans societal stance on daytime drink. Interestingly, the Mad Men TV series, in a roundabout way, contributed to a global resurgence and interest in vintage cocktails. This second wave of the Gin Craze effectively releasing the Kraken of a second “Gin Craze” which prompted many of the shows ardent fans to order a Martini or an Old-Fashioned cocktail for themselves.

Styles of Gin

“I’d like a dry martini, Mr. Quoc. A very dry martini. A very dry, arid, barren, desiccated, veritable dustbowl of a martini. I want a martini that could be declared a disaster area. Mix me just such a martini.” ~ Hawkeye Pierce (M*A*S*H)

A martini cocktail is one of the only alcoholic beverages that permits individualization in numerous ways.

London Dry Gin: A modern style of gin that is more juniper-lead, with a touch of citrus and a rooty finish. Many of the world’s top selling gin brands are based on traditional London Dry gin’s formula which does not necessarily need to be distilled in London, or in Britain, to be called a London Dry Gin.

Plymouth Gin: Similar to London dry gin, only slightly sweeter, Plymouth Gin is the oldest working gin distillery in England, using the same recipe since 1793.This gin only be made in Plymouth.

Old Tom Gin: Popular in 18th-century England, it refers to a style of gin which is typically sweeter than modern gin. Old Tom works better in mixed drinks and pre-Prohibition cocktails, anything that has bitter flavors.

Genever: In the late 1500’s, this Dutch spirit was “discovered” when British soldiers were fighting alongside Dutch soldiers. Hence, the term “Dutch courage,” as Genever was swigged right before battle. Unlike standard gin, Genever gin is distilled from malt wine and flavored with juniper.

Sloe Gin: A liqueur made from gin and sloe berries, a relative of the plum.

Modern Gin (New Western Dry Gin): Touted as being a “summer gin” the creators of Aviation American Gin, came up with the term “New Western Dry Gin.” Named from the classic pre-Prohibition Aviation cocktail, the first taste is botanical, not juniper. With this modern twist, Aviation revolutionized domestic gin because it wasn’t as juniper-forward familiar as traditional London dry gins. Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds is a former was a co-owner of Portland, Oregon-based Aviation American Gin which in August 2020 was sold for $610 million to British spirits giant Diageo, which owns notable brands like Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, and Tanqueray.

“I’ve tried every gin on the planet and Aviation is, hands down, the best.
Also, I don’t recommend trying every gin on the planet. Stick with this one.” ~ Ryan Reynolds

Vermouth

“The proper union of gin and vermouth is a great and sudden glory; it is one of the happiest marriages on earth, and one of the shortest lived.” ~ Bernard DeVoto

Vermouth is fortified wine flavored with various botanicals such as roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices. The grapes used to produce the base wine are French (Dry) and Italian (Sweet). Also, once opened, store vermouth in the refrigerator to retard oxidation as the spirit deteriorates rapidly once exposed to air.

Martini Terminology 101

“I am prepared to believe that a dry martini slightly impairs the palate, but think what it does for the soul.” ~ Alec Waugh

The level of dryness, or wetness, of a martini dictates the quantity of vermouth in the cocktail. Changing the gin or vermouth ratios in a Martini radically alters its character. The drier the Martini means less vermouth, whereas a wet martini simply means more vermouth. Some Martini styles are more popular than others. Here is some Martini terminology 101.

Classic Dry Martini: Nothing more than adding a drizzle of dry vermouth to the gin, or vodka.

Extra Dry – add only one or two drops of vermouth.

Bone Dry: – this martini is punishingly dry, no vermouth.

Wet: When there is more vermouth in your cocktail than the standard five-to-one ratio.

Perfect: Use equal parts sweet and dry vermouth.

50-50: Equal parts gin and dry vermouth.

Gibson: Hold the olives and garnish with a cocktail onion instead. For an inspired spin on a Gibson, skip the cocktail onion and add a slice of a Vlasik Kosher pickle.

Martinez: Use sweet vermouth and add maraschino liqueur

Dirty: Add a splash of olive brine before stirring with ice. The Dirty Martini was introduced to Prime Minister Winston Churchill by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Burnt: A regular martini, but rinse the glass with a peated single-malt scotch first.

Reverse: The ratio of gin (or vodka) and vermouth are flipped. One of Julia Child’s favorites, a glass full of Noilly Prat vermouth on the rocks with a topper of gin. She claimed she could easily down two of those.

Sweet: Simply swap out the dry vermouth for a sweet vermouth.

Thrown: Throwing is an old-school technique that pours a Martini from a tumbler high above your head into a tumbler held below. Impressive, yes, but the process releases aromatics, resulting in a silky-smooth sip.

Nouveau vs Classic Martini: A classic dry Martini is a thing of beauty. A classy alcoholic beverage that cocktail traditionalists maintain is king. Nouveau fruity-flavored cocktails served in a traditional martini glass that go by any names like shooters, coolers, Jell-O shots, umbrella drinks, crantinis, appletinis, chocotinis or any other tini does not a true martini make.

Straight Up Or On The Rocks

“A perfect martini should be made by filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy.”   ~ Noël Coward

“Straight up” refers to any drink prepared with ice and strained into a glass. This is overwhelmingly the most popular way to drink a Martini. A raft of celebrities have long extolled the virtues of a, straight up, dry martini. “Five parts gin and a quick glance at a bottle of vermouth,” was Alfred Hitchcock’s Martini recipe. Ernest Hemingway drank a “Montgomery Martini” which is 15 parts gin to one part vermouth. This 15:1 martini was a disparaging salute to the WWII British Field Marshal Bernard (Monty) Montgomery, who it was said wouldn’t engage the enemy in battle unless he outnumbered them 15 to one.

Ordering a Martini “on the rocks”, means the drink is served over ice. While this is an uncommon way to drink a Martini, it does have its fans as it’s been reported that Frank Sinatra’s go to dry martinis was “Beefeater gin with a shadow of vermouth, served on the rocks with a twist of lemon. Imbibing a Martini “on the rocks” typically results in too much dilution.

Shaken, Not Stirred

“Martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, so that the molecules lie sensuously one on top of the other.”  ~ W. Somerset Maugham

“Shaken, not stirred is the signature catchphrase of Ian Fleming’s fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond character and describes his preference for the preparation of his Martini. And yet, Agent 007’s signature “shaken and not stirred” was never penned by Fleming. The original phrase in his novel was “stirred, not shaken.” The filmmakers decided to change the original catchphrase for the movie, Goldfinger, because they felt “shaken, not stirred” sounded better.

Stirred, not shaken, is the traditional way a gin Martini is made. Stirring for thirty seconds avoids aerating the drink while it binds the cocktail’s ingredients together, thus retaining density without diluting the tasting notes of either spirit. Ordering a Martini shaken, not stirred, means the cocktail will be both more aerated and diluted. This is often the way in which vodka Martinis are made.

Most bartenders maintain a stirred Martini has a much stronger taste of gin and that shaking “bruises the gin.” That’s bartending lingo which translated means shaking dilutes the drink more, altering the taste. This may only partly be true as a formal scientific study conducted by the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario discovered that a shaken gin martini had more antioxidants than a stirred one. While the preliminary objective of this study was to determine whether moderate drinking appeared to reduce the risk of cataracts, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, it’s perhaps good simply knowing that one can order a Martinis shaken, not stirred just like James Bond secure in the knowledge that more antioxidants will be absorbed.

“It Sticks To The Fingers!”

Trust the great writer, Ernest Hemingway, to devise what he called. “the coldest martini in the world.” His clever hack for making them almost Arctic cold was deep freezing water in tennis ball tubes to make massive ice cylinders, that when frozen were 15 degrees below zero. Papa also froze the glasses and the Spanish cocktail onions he used as garnishes, the end result being a drink so cold Hemingway would boast, “It sticks to the fingers!”

Cocktail Garnishes

“… all my life I’ve been terrible at remembering people’s names. I once introduced a friend of mine as Martini. Her name was actually Olive.” ~ Tallulah Bankhead

The most common Martini garnishes are whole olives, usually a lemon a citrus twist, cocktail onion or even a dill pickle. A gin martini with a pickled onion is called a Gibson. Choose what your taste buds are feeling as the garnish in a Martini is meant to enhance the gin, vodka or vermouth. If you like savory, go for an unstuffed, blue cheese-stuffed, or anchovy-stuffed olive. Some maintain one should avoid pimento-stuffed olives, but many actually prefer them. Never use olives marinated in vermouth or gin and only olives bottled in clear brine. Also, never add an even number of olives. Apparently, it’s bad luck! If you want to bring out the bright clean citrus or floral notes, go for a lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit twist. How tasty your garnish is largely depends upon the flavor profile of the gin and vermouth. To enhance the esthetics of a martini, use a quality wooden pick such as 3½ inch bamboo knotted picks to spear the olives.

Martini Glassware

“The Martini simply wouldn’t be the same without its accompanying, iconic Martini glass.” 

 ~  Sipsmith Gin Distillery

A Martini is best savored in glassware designed specifically for the cocktail. Prior to the arrival of the iconic traditional long stemmed martini glass with an inverted cone bowl, standard cocktail glasses were used for most alcoholic drinks during Prohibition. It was early in the 20th century when the Martini glass became distinct from the traditional cocktail glass. Legend has it that the Martini glass was designed during Prohibition so people could quickly discard the alcohol in the glass if the police raided the Speakeasy. The long stem of the glass is necessary to prevent the fingers from warming the cocktail’s temperature within the bowl of the glass. Apart from what has evolved to be the traditional martini glass, there are also coupe and stemless Martini glassware to choose. There also some extreme artsy designed martini glasses that look as if they would tip over too easily, so caveat emptor.

Martini Recipes

“I drink to make other people more interesting.” ~ Ernest Hemingway

Gin is once again the “Opium of the People” experiencing a renaissance during the current vintage cocktail gin craze. Bartenders are once again mixing Martinis and gin cocktails based on century-old and Prohibition era cocktail recipes. Martini recipes may be a dime a dozen, but the thing to remember is there are martinis… and then there are MARTINIS. Roll up for a magical martini tour with a few of our home spun cocktail recipes.

Classic Gin Martini

“The proper union of gin and vermouth is a great and sudden glory; it is one of the happiest marriages on earth, and one of the shortest lived.” ~ Bernard DeVoto

Many believe the traditional gin martini cocktail is the best cocktail ever created. Made from just blending gin and dry vermouth, the modern twist on this classic is that today there is a plethora of artisanal distilled gins with unique botanicals and vermouths to choose from. Experiment and taste test with different spirits until you find your favorite combo.

INGREDIENTS
2½ oz London dry gin, such as Sipsmith or Bombay Sapphire
1½ oz dry vermouth, preferably Noilly Prat
Olives or lemon twist for garnish

METHOD
Rinse martini glass in dry vermouth and pour out. Shake or stir gin with ice until chilled. strain into martini glass. Add olives or lemon twist.

Vodka Martini

“I love vodka martinis. I know it’s a cliché.” ~ Daniel Craig

Clean, crisp and minimal, Vodka is substituted for gin in this simple variation of the classic gin martini. Spoiler alert: A vodka martini is not considered to be a true martini, but instead is called a Kangaroo Cocktail.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 oz vodka (unflavored)
1/2 oz dry vermouth
For garnish, choose between one Spanish olive, three green pimento-stuffed olives. or a lemon twist removed with a peeler.

METHOD
Combine vodka and dry vermouth, stir or shake on ice, strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with olives on a toothpick, or simply add lemon twist.

Hammer of the Gods Martini

“If it wasn’t for the olives in his martinis he’d starve to death.” ~ Milton Berle

This is one of Jett’s signature creations which is essentially a dry gin martini with five pimento-stuffed olives. For good luck, there must always be five olives. Don’t ask why? It’s just five. Why is it named, Hammer of the Gods? Because, if you drink more than two you will surely be hammered. The martinis name is derived from a lyric in “Immigrant Song”, a song from rock band Led Zeppelin’s third album.

INGREDIENTS
4 oz of Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin
A splash of Dry Vermouth
Five pimento-stuffed olives on a large toothpick for garnish

METHOD
Combine gin and dry vermouth, stir or shake on ice, strain into a chilled martini glass.

Vancouver Martini (Original)

 “It’s not what they say about you. It’s what they whisper!” ~ Errol Flynn

The story has been passed down that Vancouver’s historic Sylvia Hotel’s signature Vancouver Cocktail was created in 1954 when this hotel near Stanley Park opened, and that in1959, Hollywood star Errol Flynn enjoyed a Vancouver Cocktail at the Sylvia. This was Flynn’s last cocktail before his death at the age of 50 from a massive third heart attack which occurred in his bedroom at Apartment 201, 1310 Burnaby Street, Vancouver on October 14, 1959.

It has only recently been discovered that the Vancouver Cocktail was actually created sometime between 1928 and 1942 as the original recipe is published in an old book called About Town, catalogued some of Vancouver’s favorite recipes for both food and alcoholic beverages. About two decades ago the original Vancouver Cocktail was reintroduced, but they had one ingredient in the recipe wrong. It turns out that a Fitchett Cocktail has been mistakenly passed off as being the Vancouver Cocktail. Here is the original Vancouver cocktail recipe, and after that a recipe for the Fitchett Cocktail.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin such as Victoria Gin or Long Table Gin
1/3 oz French Dry Vermouth
1/5 oz or “a good splash” of Benedictine liqueur
2 dashes of orange bitters

METHOD
Place all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir well. Strain into a chilled Martini glass. Twist of lemon peel for garnish.

Fitchett Cocktail

The Fitchett Cocktail was created by Joe Fitchett, who was one of The Vancouver Club’s master bartenders back in the day. Fitchett’s namesake prohibition-era Martini is a variation on the original Vancouver Cocktail recipe with everything being the same except that French dry vermouth is substituted with Italian sweet vermouth.

Vesper Martini

A dry martini… One. In a deep Champagne goblet…Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?” ~ James Bond

A “Vesper Martini” is the famous drink ordered by James Bond in both the book and the movie Casino Royale. James Bond’s author Ian Fleming created this inventive original variation on the traditional dry martini and named it the Vesper after fictional Bond character, Vesper Lynd. The Martini was named like this…

James Bond: “I think, I’ll call it a Vesper.”

Vesper Lynd: “Because of the bitter aftertaste?”

James Bond: “No, because once you’ve tasted it, that’s all you want to drink.”

When preparing this cocktail, you must mix the ingredients, strain, and serve in a chilled cocktail glass. Kina Lillet is no longer available, but Lillet Blanc (made by the same company) is the modern equivalent, though it’s said to be slightly less bitter in taste than the original Kina Lillet. Another substitute for Kina Lillet is an Italian vermouth called Cocchi Americano.

INGREDIENTS
3 oz of Gordon’s London Dry Gin
1 oz of Vodka such as Finlandia, Stolichnaya, or Smirnoff
½ oz Lillet Blanc
Lemon twist for garnish

METHOD
Shake all the ingredients with ice in a shaker, then pour into a chilled martini glass, or for the die-hard Bond purists, a deep champagne goblet. Garnish with a large thin slice of lemon peel.

Sedna Epic Expedition Martini

“From Greenland to Alaska, according to Inuit legend, Sedna is the Goddess of the Sea,the mother of all marine mammals.” ~ The Legend of Sedna

Susan R. Eaton, one of Canada’s top modern day woman explorers, commissioned Jett in 2016 to create a signature martini for the Sedna Epic Expedition. Created solely from Canadian spirits, the Sedna Epic Expedition Martini is a homage to Sedna’s sea women snorkeling through turquoise arctic seas and pack ice. For more information about the Sedna Epic Expedition go to: https://www.sednaepic.com.

INGREDIENTS
1 oz Ungave Canadian Premium Gin
1 oz McGuinness Polar Ice 90° North Vodka
1 oz McGuinness Blue Curacao
Whipped Cream (homemade is best and more environmentally friendly than using whip cream from and aerosol can)
Small chunk of ice from a passing iceberg, or three ice cubes
White Rock Sugar to rim the martini glass
Slice of lime for garnish

METHOD
Moisten rim of martini class with a slice of lime (lemon, orange or water will also suffice). Gently rub it around the rim of the glass making sure to completely moisten the entire rim without dampening any other part of the glass. Carefully dip the rim of the moistened glass into the rock sugar. Make sure you dip it straight in so the rim is straight and even.

Combine all ingredients (Gin, Vodka & Blue Curacao) into a martini shaker over ice, and shake until completely cold. Strain into a martini glass, then add ice.

Float whipped cream on top of the polar blue martini.

Before serving, garnish martini glass with a slice of lime (to ward off scurvy).

Sedna Epic Expedition Martini: Global Warming Edition

Simply use the same Sedna Epic Expedition Martini recipe as above, except substitute one egg white for the whip cream topping. Just add egg white to spirits in shaker and shake. Due to Global Warming, the Arctic ice is thinner and the sea water more slurry.

Terra Incognita Explorers Bar Martini

“A man must defend his home, his wife, his children, and his martini.” ~ Jackie Gleason

The month before the COVID-19 global pandemic struck and the world went into lock down, we had created a bar space here at stately Britnell Manor, which is a tongue in cheek twist on stately Wayne Manor from the 60’s Batman TV series. Given our explorer pursuits we named this humble oasis the Terra Incognita Explorers Bar. While it may be important to note that we do not operate under a liquor license, we do endeavor to maintain some semblance of professionalism and decorum. Hence, a signature martini for the home bar seemed apropos.

INGREDIENTS
2 oz of Empress 1908 Gin
½ oz Lillet Blanc
½ oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Lemon twist for garnish

METHOD
Stir or Shake on ice, strain into a chilled martini glass.

It’s Five O’clock Somewhere

 “Martinis . . . have a muting effect on the constant ringing in my ears, and as five o’clock approaches, my thoughts turn toward the elixir of quietude. Gin stops the bell from tolling.”  ~ E.B. White

There’s no cocktail more sophisticated, debonair, classy, utterly timeless, or sexier than a Martini. With its basic ingredients and air of refined style, the Martini is one drink that defies the latest trends. From James Bond’s widely recognized “shaken, not stirred” catchphrase to Ernest Hemingway’s words from his novel A Farewell to Arms, “I’ve never tasted anything so cool and clean…They make me feel civilized,” Hence, this gin-based beverage has been and will continue to be an iconic stalwart of cocktail culture. As children’s author E.B. White wrote, it is … “the elixir of quietude.”

Now, since it’s five o’clock somewhere, we shall stop the gin bell from tolling and raise our signature Hammer of the Gods Martini to make an eloquent toast … “I’ll drink to those who do, I’ll drink to those who don’t, but never the ones who say they will and later decide they won’t. But the ones I’ll toast from the break of day to the wee hours of the night, are the ones who say, “I never have, but just for you I might.” Cheers!

Until our next dispatch, dare to Explore…Dream…Discover.