Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Anchovy 2: Electric Boogaloo

Happy Friday. Yes, you read that right. I’m re-visiting the anchovy martini from last week. Shut up. You’re writing this late Thursday night trying to make a post for today!

Anyway, I did say I wanted to re-visit this one, this time with a muddled anchovy

2 oz. Gin (the book suggestions monkey 47, I used Gordon’s – Again)

1 oz. Dry vermouth 

Anchovy for garnish

In a mixing glass, muddle one anchovy and caper. Add ice add the gin and vermouth. Stir until chilled and double strain into an old fashioned glass full of ice, then garnish with a rolled up anchovy 

Noticeable aroma this time. That’s due to doubling the anchovy in this, plus more of the oil it was packed in. I kept them in the fridge after opening the can, but covered with more olive oil for preservation. The oil thickened up and coated the anchovies. So some more of the oil ended up in the drink as well.

Much brinier this time around. This is more of what I was expecting out of the drink. The saltiness of the anchovy is what gets you first, and lasts the longest.

The gin takes a backseat to the twin brine attack of the fish and the caper it’s rolled up with. You can tell it’s there, especially since I’m using a London dry and not Monkey 47, which is a different style; it still falls behind the salty main profile. The vermouth actually is the one that gets lost here. I can’t really pick it up through the other stronger flavors going on here.

The finish is more of the gin and brine, with the gin fading away to leave the sea salt flavors alone in the palate at the end. Those flavors also hang around after you’ve finished. The olive oil the anchovies were packaged in made more of an impact on the drink than I thought. The oil coats your lips and tongue so it enhances the anchovies flavor as well as keeping it from dissipating.

I saved the anchovies in their oil for preservation, and just took one from the container I saved them in. Perhaps if there is a next time I make this, I’ll dab off some of the oil before muddling in the shaker.

Now that I’ve made this twice, I’m not sure if I’d do it again. This is more of what I was expecting, but something is off putting, but not enough to dump it or write it off completely. Last week I had dinner with anchovies while having the drink, this time it’s a one off application, so maybe it needs a complimentary snack or dinner to go with it to really hit home.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)