Infinite MonkeysYou know, I pity bartenders who try to come up with new cocktails. I mean, even if they succeed, they'll probably be forgotten (or fighting for credit). And unless you use some crazy new liquor that's made from grass buffalo feed on or something, it's probably been done before. Like tonight, when I mixed up some Rye, Luxardo and Vya Sweet Vermouth. It was so good, I googled it. Something very similar has been done.
Posted by David at August 19, 2006 12:23 AMOh, and I didn't make that Buffalo thing up, although the story I was told was a little off. And it's not new either.
I promise extensive booze blogging when I return from Burning Man in September.
Posted by: Monkey David at August 19, 2006 12:27 AMDepending on how much Luxardo you used, sounds to me like you made an Italian Manhattan. The maraschino in the Red Hook is an entirely different flavor element -- sort of a sweet/dry liquor to balance the sweet/bitter of the Punt e Mes. Either drink sounds good -- I'm going to have to run out for some more Punt e Mes and rye and try them both.
I've been cutting back on my intake lately. But in keeping with Ex-Monkey Ben's seasonal drink rules, I've been sticking with a moderate diet of martinis. Current gin: No. 209 from San Francisco. Not nearly as good as Sarticious or Junipero, I'm sorry to report. But what is going on in the Bay Area these days? It looks like a true gin renaissance up there.
Posted by: H.L. Monkey at August 19, 2006 12:52 PMOh, I do dig the Junipero. Nothing quite like a "California Martini" made with Junipero and Vya.
Posted by: Monkey RobbL at August 19, 2006 06:20 PMIf one origin tale is true, then all martinis are "California martinis."
Bernard de Voto, in his rare but indispensable volume, "The Hour," says that the best martini gin is American gin. I suppose 50 years ago, Fleischmann's and a few others may have worked fine for workaday martinis -- but not for the sophisticated boozer of the 21st century!
Posted by: H.L. Monkey at August 20, 2006 08:51 AM