Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: How Long Until Spring?

We finally made it to Friday. To me this week has been kind of just…meh. Maybe it’s because February is the worst month of the year, maybe it’s because I’m now catching back up at work after having been on leave for 20+ weeks. Either way, I’ve been very much looking forward to this long weekend. What better way to kick off the weekend with a drink? Given the general sort of malaise I’ve been feeling this week, I went with something very simple: The Emerson. 4 ingredients, all in a shaker, strain and serve. Doesn’t get much better and easier than that:

Emerson:

1.5 oz. gin, preferably Old Tom
1 oz. sweet vermouth
.5 oz. lime juice, freshly squeezed
.25 oz. maraschino liqueur
Garnish: maraschino cherry

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake for 10–15 seconds, until well chilled. Double strain through a fine mesh strainer into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Very similar aroma to a Martinez, of which isn’t a surprise since this is a Martinez derivative.  It’s the maraschino liqueur that does it. It’s fruit forward but not over the top.

The sip is nice. It is a pleasant combination of the dry gin, sweet from the maraschino liqueur and vermouth, and a touch of sour from the lime. It’s very well balanced, and with all these complex flavors going on, it needs to maintain the balance here. After all that, it does finish a touch on the sour side, but I rather like it actually. The citrus is a nice touch, but specifically the lime flavor plays really well here. I don’t get much from the maraschino syrup I added. In the drink’s defense I’m sure the garnish would be a better way to deploy the flavors than using a barspoon to drizzle/ drip some in so it sits at the bottom of the glass. I’m sure having the cherry sit in the middle of the drink would more evenly disperse the flavors and I’d be able to pick it up more before getting to the sunken syrup. The finish is a tad heavy on the lime, so that delicate balance does appear to fade away at some point. It isn’t super sour though so it isnt a big deal.

I like this very much. It doesn’t taste overly strong in terms of the booze, and is very easy to drink, and excellent when it’s poured ice cold. Though I think I might prefer a regular Martinez or the Peacock Alley Martinez a little bit better. As much as I do enjoy the lime as mentioned above. I did find it to linger a little bit longer than I would have preferred the more I had of this. Mind you it wasn’t undrinkable by any means, just a personal preference at work here. Enjoy the long weekend!

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)