MxMo XXI

[eje]

If any of you read (or write) blogs which cover cocktails, you might know that Paul over at Cocktail Chronicles has been organizing a monthly online cocktail event he calls Mixology Mondays.

This month's event is being hosted by Jay over on Oh Gosh!. The theme is "Gin".

Jay explains the criteria:

This month the theme is gin. Not quite as inventive as some of the previous topics perhaps, but nonetheless a subject I’m sure we can have plenty of fun with. Gin has been my key “find” since learning more about cocktails, having gone from a spirit I wouldn’t touch to perhaps my favourite after whisky.

It currently seems to be enjoying something of a resurgence after spending years languishing behind it’s more popular, but less intelligent, brother, vodka. Sadly I’m sure we’ll never reach the point where as many varieties of gin sit behind a bar as do vodka, but let’s see if we can’t find some cocktails that might at least help buck the trend.

If you would like to participate, please write up a cocktail in this topic before Monday, November 12th at midnight. I will compile a list of cocktails posted and email them to the organizer.

Any thing from "Gin and It" to the "Ramos Fizz" and beyond should be game. A wide open field for experimentation and reporting!

[eje]

The Martini is the ubiquitous Gin cocktail.

When approaching it, I was trying to think what would be my "Perfect" Martini.

My usual answer is 5-1 Gin to Dry Vermouth ratio, Orange bitters, and a lemon twist.

This time, the word "Perfect" stuck in my head and I figured I'd give a true "Perfect" Martini a try. Some sources indicate that the Martini's roots may really lie in the Manhattan Cocktail, so why not?

2 oz Junipero Gin

1/2 oz Cinzano Rosso Vermouth

1/2 oz Noilly Prat Dry

Dash Verte de Fougerolles Absinthe

Stir with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top.

I dunno what happened with the bitters. I was opening the cabinet to grab them, and the Absinthe caught my eye.

Quite tasty and an attractive gold-ish color!

The touch of sweetness and spice that the Italian Vermouth brings to the cocktail is enjoyable. The Absinthe plays up the anise notes of the Junipero.

Anyway, figured I couldn't be the first person to think of this, so poked around. Turns out, there's a Harry McElhone cocktail called the Fourth Degree: 1/3 Gin; 1/3 French Vermouth; 1/3 Italian Vermouth; Dash Absinthe; and lemon peel or cherry.

There you go! A classic worth reviving.

[thirtyoneknots]

Hopefully not too late to share something I've been enjoying lately. I love Old fashioneds (who doesn't? Commies, that's who) and always liked the notion of the Improved Holland Gin Cocktail, but the only genevere available to me is the Boomsma, which I find uninspiring, so I normally just make it with a good London Dry, at least until Anchor Distilling's Genevieve becomes available. The other personally notable thing about this drink is that I'm not huge on either Grand Marnier or Maraschino, finding them excessively heavy and with a slightly off-putting funk (esp in the Maraschino) but I love either of them here. Not too exotic for this crowd, but here's a recipe anyways:

Improved Gin Cocktail:

2 oz good gin (Tanqueray or Boodles, or Junipero if I'm really going all out).

1 tsp, give or take, of GrandMa or Maraschino (lots of other liqueurs work ehre too, try a creme de violette, or apry, or whatever you want).

3ish dashes Peychaud's, or orange bitters if you want to mix things up a bit

1ish dash Absinthe (Jade Edouard is what I have; if you only have pastis I might be tempted to skip this part)

Now lots of books and websites say stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, but I always build this on the rocks, for whatever reason. Lemon twist.

Never ceases to amaze how versatile the 'Cock-tail' formula is. And they're pretty much all good, too.

[bostonapothecary]

didn't have time to put anything together...

i was going to make some bathtup method "cologne's geneva" with cognac and juniper berries, citrus, etc... to be drunk in any classic manner... everything is sitting on my countertop. the best laid plans of mice and men...

not worthy of MxMo but i've been enjoying seagram's cask aged gin in my espresso... a spoonful in a single adds some fun depth.

[KatieLoeb]

The latest of my experiments just happens to be gin based:

Cherub's Kiss

2 oz. Plymouth gin

1 oz. St. Germain

.75 oz. Apry

splash fresh lemon juice

Fresh lemon twist

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon twist over surface of drink and drop in. Enjoy.

[eje]

MxMo XXI roundup over on Jay's blog Oh Gosh!

Mixology Monday - Gin Round-up

Pretty good turnout, overall!

[JayHepburn]

Thanks for your entries everybody. Was a fun MxMO, and I now have a big long list of new cocktails to try out!