Tag: martini

Posted on

Dry Recipe: The Actually Dry Martini

I am back with one more martini recipe!  This post will wrap up a string of martini posts that began with my review of the martini service at Requin.  In that post, I promised you a few recipes for making martinis at home.  First I offered my version of the classic martini recipe.  Then I gave you my briny, spicy variation, the Hot and Dirty Martini.  Here I offer you a third and (for now) final variation – fit for dry January – the non-alcoholic Actually Dry Martini:

Actually Dry Martini

As pictured here, this drink is powered by Seedlip Garden 108.  Seedlip describes its products as the “world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits.”  The Garden 108 is one of these.  It features flavors of “leaf,” “herb,” and “pod.”  (There’s also another variety – the Spice 94 – described as offering “wood,” “spice,” and “citrus” flavors.)

With its incorporation of gin-like botanicals, Garden 108 struck me as a plausible ingredient for an alcohol-free stand-in for the martini.  Some might object at this point that a non-alcoholic martini is a contradiction in terms, or that using soft ingredients defeats the drink’s purpose.  But I disagree.  For me, the martini’s allure is in its botanical and vegetable flavors, which are uncommon in the cocktail kingdom.

That said, I must manage expectations.  Garden 108 is not gin.  So if you are hoping for an alcohol-free martini that tastes just like the real thing, this recipe is not for you.  But I do think Garden 108’s unique flavors work in a drink with martini-like proportions and profile.  The final product mixes notes of fresh cucumber, earthy brine, and light citrus.  It’s a way to enjoy a month off from drinking without giving up the pleasing complexity of a good cocktail.  And if you’re observing dry January, this recipe gives you excuse to stop your martini glasses from collecting dust.

To make this drink, you’ll need Garden 108 (obviously – available from Amazon and the link above).  You’ll also need Gordy’s Fine Brine, discussed in the recipe post for the Hot & Dirty Martini.  And you’ll need olives and some freshly squeezed lemon juice.  Here’s the recipe:

Actually Dry Martini recipe
Print Recipe

Actually Dry Martini

Looking for a mocktail replacement for the martini?  Try this Actually Dry Martini recipe, featuring Garden 108 by Seedlip.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Mocktail
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 5kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 oz. Seedlip Garden 108
  • 1/2 oz. Gordy's Fine Brine
  • 1 splash freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

  • Place two olives in a martini glass.
  • Combine the Garden 108, Gordy's Fine Brine, and lemon juice in a mixing glass with ice and stir.
  • Strain into the martini glass.

Enjoy!

Posted on

Classic Recipe with a Twist: The Hot and Dirty Martini

Back in my review of the martini service at Requin, I promised you a “few posts” of martini recipes.  First I offered my take on the classic martini.  Then I interrupted our martini study to check out the Brothers and Sisters bar at the Line Hotel.  Now I’m back to deliver on the promise of multiple martini recipes.  As I’ve noted, the martini is an old drink that has enjoyed many iterations over the years.  In that spirit, I now offer you a twist of my own on the classic, the Hot and Dirty Martini:

Hot and Dirty Martini

The recipe begins with the classic gin and vermouth ingredients.  But as its name suggests, there are two modifications here:  heat and additional brine.  The heat is supplied by the spicy Ancho Reyes Verde, a green ancho chile liqueur.  It has a savory flavor, which is fitting for a martini.

The chile liqueur also pairs well with additional brine, which “dirties” up the drink.  The brine in this case comes from Gordy’s (of D.C.), which makes a Fine Brine intended for cocktails specifically.

There are several things I like about this combination of ingredients.  The first is that (as noted above) it adds an earthy, savory flavor to the drink.  Don’t get me wrong – I love the classic martini.  In my classic recipe, the prevailing flavor is the herbal profile of the gin, the main ingredient.  But if you’re someone who likes a good Bloody Mary or a martini with a lot of extra olive juice, I think you’ll like what Gordy’s adds to the drink.  And to me, the chile liqueuer was a natural addition.  The chile flavor is compatible with the vegetable-leaning profile of the drink, and I like adding spice to just about everything.  (If you are sensitive to spice don’t worry, it’s not overwhelming.)

The other advantage to this approach is that it’s a lighter drink than a traditional martini, meaning you can have more of them.  Gin comprises only half the recipe here, and the other ingredients are lower proof or nonalcoholic.

And finally, I think it’s good to have a few variations of the martini in your rotation.  You might want to host a martini night, for example, and new options help keep things fresh for martini diehards and might cast the drink in a new, better light for those who have not been won over by the martini in the past.

Here is the recipe:

Hot and Dirty Martini recipe
Print Recipe

Hot and Dirty Martini

Spice up the classic martini with this recipe, which starts with gin and vermouth but adds a chile liqueur and brine to bring you a Hot and Dirty Martini.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Spirit-Forward
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 147kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz. gin I used Botanist
  • 1/2 oz. Ancho Reyes Verde
  • 1/2 oz. dry vermouth I used Dolin
  • 1/2 oz. Gordy's Fine Brine

Instructions

  • Place two olives in a martini glass.
  • Combine the gin, Ancho Reyes Verde, vermouth, and brine in a mixing glass with ice and stir.
  • Strain into the martini glass.

Enjoy!

Posted on

Classic Recipe: The Martini

As promised in my recent review of Requin’s martini service, today’s post shows you how to make a martini at home.  This cocktail is a true classic, well more than a hundred years old.  In fact, by 1891, the Kansas City Star could chastise the “thirsty New Yorker” for being taken with the martini on the ground that the cocktail was “not very new.”  (The same article nevertheless acknowledged the versatility of the drink.  It conceded that the martini was the form in which “the casual, the occasional, the weary, the enthusiastic, the going-to-bed-now, or the just-up New Yorker takes his poison.”)

Not surprisingly, a drink with such history has enjoyed multiple iterations.  The typical recipe uses gin, for example, but some spies—er, drinkers, prefer vodka.  Proportions also vary, anywhere from a one-to-one ratio of gin and vermouth to essentially all gin, with vermouth supplied only (if at all) by an atomizing sprayer or, as Winston Churchill preferred it, by observation “from across the room.”  Garnishes, too, have varied, including lemon peel, olives, and cocktail onions.  Even the method of combining the ingredients – shaking or stirring – is subject to modification.

What follows is my preferred approach.  But the critical drinker may wish to take a cue from experience and tinker with the particulars.  My classic martini is made with gin, dry vermouth, and orange bitters, and garnished with an olive.  When done right, it looks like this:

Classic Martini

Here’s how to do it.  Put an olive or two in a martini glass or coupe.  Add a barspoon of olive brine (or more if you prefer a “dirtier” drink) to the glass.  In a mixing glass, combine a dash of orange bitters, 1/4 ounce of dry vermouth (I used Dolin) and 2 3/4 ounces of gin (I used Botanist).  Add ice to the glass and stir.  Strain into the glass with the olives.

Enjoy!

Classic Martini Recipe
Print Recipe

Classic Martini

This is a recipe for a great martini, my favorite cocktail, featuring gin, a tiny bit of vermouth, a dash of orange bitters, and a couple of olives.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Spirit-Forward
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 175kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 oz. gin I used Botanist
  • 1/4 oz. dry vermouth I used Dolin
  • 1 dash orange bitters I used Fee Brothers

Instructions

  • Place two olives and a bar-spoonful of olive juice in a martini glass.
  • Combine the gin, vermouth, and orange bitters in a mixing glass with ice and stir.
  • Strain into the martini glass.
Posted on

Drinking D.C.: Martini Service at Requin

I returned to the Wharf recently to visit the newly opened D.C. outpost of Requin, the Mike Isabella restaurant (the original is in Fairfax).  I had visited Del Mar de Fabio Trabocchi not long before and loved the cocktails, especially the gin and tonic for two, as I reported here.  That was my first visit to the Wharf; I wanted to see what else was on offer in the way of cocktails in D.C.’s newest hotspot.

Requin bills itself as a “French Mediterranean” restaurant, and I wasn’t sure what that would mean in the way of cocktails.  Champagne-based drinks?  Cocktails of various European digestifs and aperitifs?

But no.  Well, maybe, but I didn’t look that far down the menu.  Instead I stopped at the headline – the restaurant’s “Martini Service.”  I should mention at this stage that I am a big martini fan – it’s as classic a cocktail as there is.  But it’s also a crowded field.  So while I make them at home a lot I don’t often order them out.  Here though a restaurant not only had a menu of martinis, but it was also the featured portion of the cocktail menu.  So I had to try it out.

The menu offers a selection of four different recipes, from the “classique,” which consists of the familiar gin, dry vermouth, and orange bitters, to the “evoo,” which is made from olive oil washed armagnac blanche, calvados, americano bianco, and dry vermouth.

I skipped past these, as well as the gibson (gin, pineau blanche, and pickle brine) and chose the 50/50:  half gin, half blanc vermouth.  (Plus lemon bitters – yes, so not technically half each of the preceding ingredients.  But you get the idea.)  I was drawn to this option because I’m usually pretty light on the vermouth in my martinis and wanted to mix it up.  And the gin is a house blend, which made the choice all the more intriguing.

The presentation of the drink is somewhat elaborate.  You receive not just the martini in the glass, but a refill on the side, sitting in ice.  Some assembly is also required in that garnishes (lemon peel and olive) are served on the side so you can pick which you prefer (or both, as I did):

Martini Service at Requin

I liked this martini a lot.   The flavors were very smooth.  I attributed this to the use of blanc rather than dry vermouth (but perhaps it was the mysterious house gin?).  The other benefit of this approach is that it doesn’t pack quite the punch of a gin-heavier martini.  At the same time, the refill probably offset that benefit; by ounces, this is really two martinis (or at least nearly).  As a result, I didn’t try the others on the menu.  But I plan to get back to try them out.

I should add that Requin is a beautiful space as well.  Like many of the new buildings at the Wharf, Requin’s has large windows that face the river.  On nice days you can enjoy the sights of a D.C. sunset, boats passing, or the buzz of pedestrian activity.  (As I write this, it’s 12 degrees outside, so it probably would’t be like that now, but spring is coming!)  And it’s a great stop before going on to a show at the Anthem, which is exactly what we did.  (Saw the Shins, who were fantastic!)

I will be back to explore the other martini and cocktail options at Requin and recommend you do the same.  And if you’re a martini lover like I am, stay tuned for the next few posts.  I have a couple of recipes I think you’ll enjoy!

Reservations available on OpenTable. Â