Next up is one I normally wouldn't gravitate to, but this game demands sacrifice and I'm going to get here eventually. Besides somehow this on actually intrigues me. Almost quintessential staples of the pre-prohibition cocktails Maraschino Liqueur, Italian and French Vermouths. and here they are all on their own, no Gin, no Rye, no orange juice or bitters. Today's cocktail the Cherry Mixture Cocktail. OK this one has a some trial and error involved so lets take a lok how this goes down.
Savoy
1/2 French Vermouth
1/2 Italian Vermouth
dash Maraschino
So looking at this we know that classically the two 1/2 measures would be 1 oz each, and the dash is an arbitrary debatable yet essentially small amount. That leaves me a starting point as a 3 oz drink looking like :
R&T trial#1
1 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
1 1/2 oz Sweet vermouth
2 bsp Maraschino
OK, last post I touched on this in discussion. 1 conservative bsp being the starting subsitiute for a da. and with a 50% increase in volume lets see how 2 bsp does to tame 3 oz of vermouth. Thoughts, The Vermouth here pretty much is the show, and I can't honestly think of a description, but then I guess I don't really need to. So how about the Maraschino. This as we all know is a subdued liqueur but despite that not overly subtle, with this combination, I though a little more would help give character to the vermouths. And depending on taste, this is drinkable and the character of the Maraschino is about equal to the character of the vermouths. the result is maybe what I could best describe as likening to a desert wine. That said I personally feel that it is too sweet and the maraschino is almost at odds with the Vermouth and not really ballanced or complimentary. So...
R&T trial #2
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
1 1/2 oz Sweet vermouth
1 bsp Maraschino
Marked improvement, the vermouth cleans up and is much more lively in fact a conservative BSP may be too subtle, after the last incarnation the Maraschino is barely detectable, so a proper (not gernerous) bsp Seems to provide the right balance of the positive traits of the aparatif wine and the sweetness and character of the maraschino. If I was really in the mood I might consider actually upping the ratio of dry to sweet vermouth too. BUT in the end trying to truly refine this drink is a bit of an exercise in futility. It is far from being epic, and there is a reason these are all sidekicks in more masterful libations. Like a comic book with Aquaman, Hawkman and Batgirl. No mater what you do to it's it just isn't going to be remarkable. Now maybe I'll go throw some Gin and bitters in this and have a much better Martinez to wrap up the evening.
Gary
