The Puzzling Pernodtini

[maggiethecat]

I talked to my father last night about a magical transformation he experienced in his martini glass before dinner.

It seems the original martini was knocked off the counter and he found himself out of gin after the LCBO had closed. Vodka is a non-starter (and non-existent) in his house so he picked the only bottle left in the cabinet: Pernod. He added some dry vermouth and here's where is gets spooky.

The drink turned orange.

I'm plain outta Pernod, but I know the inhabitants of this forum have a bottle or two lying about.. Would anyone like to duplicate this drink for me, and check in with your results?

If you get the same reaction in your glass, could you hazard a guess as to why this happens? My father is a chemical engineer, but he specialized in wood pulp, not cocktails.

[Chris Amirault]

While hearing Thomas Dolby shouting "SCIENCE!" in my head, I tried mixing M&R dry vermouth with (gulp) Pernod. It was yellow. Added water. Yellow.

Perchance, did dad grab sweet vermouth instead of dry?

[maggiethecat]

No sweet vermouth -- it's not a Manhattan household. Thanks for stepping up to the plate -- er, bar. I wish I knew if Daddy used M&R, Cinzano or Boissieres -- depending on what's on sale it could be any of them.

And did you taste the concoction? I'm betting it tasted like Pernod.

[Nathan]

a very large percentage of males, perhaps the majority, (and a significant percentage of women for that matter) are partially color-blind (i.e. unable to perceive shading differences with some colors). throw in differences in interior lighting (which can have drastic effects on color perception) and it's hardly surprising that one person would see orange where another sees yellow.

[maggiethecat]

a very large percentage of males, perhaps the majority, (and a significant percentage of women for that matter) are partially color-blind (i.e. unable to perceive shading differences with some colors).  throw in differences in interior lighting (which can have drastic effects on color perception) and it's hardly surprising that one person would see orange where another sees yellow.

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That sounds about right, actually.

(Come payday I'll give it a shot myself!)