I have a few extra minutes this evening since Andrea is working on another of Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals.
My favorite cocktail is pretty simple – gin and tonic. I’ll try other things and certainly enjoy many of them, but it remains my steady favorite. Over the last few years, I’ve been slowly working my way through the various brands of gin available from my local small liquor store. So far, I’ve only found one, New Amsterdam Smooth Gin, that I actively dislike in a gin and tonic.
It’s been sitting in my small liquor cabinet since shortly after Christmas, unique in its nearly full bottle. I’ve been pondering ways to get rid of it that don’t involve pouring it down the drain, and I’m sure I can mix it with some sort of witches’ brew for our annual Halloween party.
This evening I decided to mix it with a martini; maybe other tastes will blunt the sickly sweet cotton candy flavor?
I started with a recipe from Aerobleu Martini Diaries:
The Last Worthless Evening Martini 4 ounces dry English gin dash of dry vermouth dash of bitters shake in an iced shaker
I wasn’t willing to trust my entire martini to this sweet gin, so I used half Tanqueray and half New Amsterdam. I’m happy to say it’s a hit! Andrea and I both like it, though I admit with two young kids, it’s been so long since I’ve had or made a martini, I don’t have a recent basis for comparison. 3 stars! I’d definitely do this one again.