Hooray for Friday! I’ve had a surprisingly busy week and needed to pivot off what I was hoping to make this week. Turns out, I hit on an excellent middle ground. I went to the Martini book for a quick and easy variant to make, and found a strong sounding one from Harry’s bar in New York and Venice. What made it work out even more is that part of the recipe is letting it chill in the freezer for a half and hour (at least) before pouring. So I was able to make it, and then get more shit done while it was chilling. I was definitely looking forward to enjoying a pre made drink when I had the time.

The Harry’s Bar Martini

3 oz. (90 ml) London dry gin

1 Barspoon (about 1 tsp) Martini & Rossi Extra Dry vermouth

Twist of lemon or an olive for garnish

At least 30 minutes before serving, combine the gin and vermouth in a cocktail shaker and place in the freezer, along with a martini glass or glass of your choice. When ready to serve ,shake the drink, then strain into the well-chilled glass. Garnish with the lemon twist or olive. 

Mostly vermouth on the nose. It’s not a very strong smell, but it’s there Some lemon from the peel seeps in there too. It’s a good mix for a martini.

I need to start doing freezer martinis more often. This is ice cold, strong and very refreshing. This one is strong too, Given the 3 ounces of gin to a barspoon of vermouth, I’m not at all surprised. The chill is absolutely necessary. I’m not sure what kind of black magic fuckery is going on with the chill and the flavors but the freeze definitely takes the edge off. Not that I’m suggesting you chug this, because knocking back martinis like shots is a bad idea, but letting this warm up seems to let the gin slowly take over. Not that it was a really tall task for the gin to dominate anyway.

Once that happens, the distinct juniper aromas definitely start to become more prevalent when taking a sip of the drink. I started to get this towards the end of the one I made for this, but it didn’t take away from the overall flavors. Of which, shock of shocks, the gin is the major player. I get very little vermouth, but what I do pick up, does add some needed flavors to offset the heavy juniper and herbal notes from the gin. Which stays pretty constant throughout the lifespan of the drink.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)