Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Laying The Groundwork

I’m Back this week! Well, back in the sense that I’m back at home, and back and armed with a tasty beverage. So this past week, I came across an interesting riff on a Gibson that seemed very intriguing to me. Except for one problem. I’ve never made, let alone had a Gibson before. Shocking isn’t it? So before having a twist on a classic drink, I should probably make one first, just to get the baseline, and then I can do some experimentation. More on that next week. I used the Gibson ratio found in the Martini specific book I have:

Gibson

2 1/4 oz. London dry gin

3/4 oz. Dry vermouth

Cocktail onions for garnish

Combine the gin and vermouth in a cocktail shaker or mixing glass. Shake or stir as desired, then pour into a coupe or glass of your choice. Garnish with a few cocktail onions

Aroma is standard gin martini, but with a hint of the pickled onions there. Granted the garnish is right there on top so that adds to it. I also added some of the brine as well, just for fun.

Oh that is interesting. The flavor profile isn’t at all what I was expecting. The onions and the brine really affect the strength of the gin on the palate, initially at least. You get a salty, somewhat briny flavor that hits you up front. It’s actually almost a bit too much for me, but it doesnt quite cross the line. As fast as the brine leads off, it doesn’t stick around very long before the gin comes through and re-gains the flavor advantage.

From there on out it’s a standard, cold, delicious martini. However I will say the brine doesn’t go completely away though. It lurks in the background and comes out again at the finish.  Thankfully nowhere near as intense as it was up front, so that is a welcome discovery.

Now that I’ve got the Gibson down, I can try the cocktail I was talking about earlier. But for that, I think I’ll wait for next week.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)