Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Tossup

We made it to another weekend thankfully. I’m just about done digging out from another major snowstorm that decided to hit earlier in the week, so that’s been super fun. Thankfully I have a snowblower. I don’t know what I would do without it these past two major storms. All that work obviously made me thirsty, and required proper rewards for when I was finished. Keeping on the martini kick I’ve been on, I found a very simple drink from the Savoy cocktail book: The Fifty Fifty. I tend to skew more toward the drier side of martinis, with the ratio of 2 parts gin to one part vermouth. This one calls for, you guessed it, equal parts:

1/2 Dry Gin

1/2 French Vermouth

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass

Definitely dry vermouth notes on the nose. It’s not overpowering, but enough comes through to let you know it’s got the French vermouth.

The vermouth also is very prominent in the flavor here too. A little too much for my liking actually. I like vermouth, but the 1 to 1 ratio is a bit too much. It completely covers up any flavors the gin brings to the table. That kind of surprised me. They’re both fairly strong when it comes to natural flavors. I figured the gin would be a little more pervasive when it comes to the botanicals. But the vermouth definitely wins out. Especially on the finish. The signature vermouth flavor lingers on the palate for a little bit, making this one a slower sipper, at least for me since I’m finding that flavor ever so slightly off putting.

What if we added a lemon twist? Well now we’ve made a Gibson cocktail. No, not the one with the cocktail onion. This one is the exact same as the fifty fifty. The only difference between the two is the Fifty Fifty calls for DRY gin, while the Gibson calls for just gin. I assumed that London dry would still work here, hence my quick add of a lemon twist.

The twist takes over from the vermouth in the aromas, and it also changes the flavors too, for the better I think. The twist mutes the strong vermouth, and reduces it to more of a background player with the gin. Providing a much needed balance of the flavors. Which I find ironic given the fact it’s improving on a drink called the Fifty Fifty!

The same goes with the finish. the lingering vermouth palate is reduced by a lot. It’s not totally gone, but it gets to the point where you wont even notice it.

So to sum up, Fifty Fifty, not a fan. Too much vermouth. Gibson is better, but I’d still reduce the vermouth by a half measure and let the gin shine on.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)