Martini & The Scofflaw

Winding down a chilly Sunday evening, I threw two drinks together tonight. Neither revelatory, both informative.

Martini

Yes, I've made a million of these. Yes, with a decent vermouth they're still heavenly. This was less about the drink, more about process.

2 oz. Gin (Hendricks, naturally)

1 oz. Dry Vermouth (Boissiere)

dash of Pernod

lemon twist

Construction: Acting on a few tidbits of wisdom I'd picked up in the last few weeks, I stirred it in a metal mixing tin instead of a glass, and cracked the ice instead of leaving it cubed. Big mistake: in the place of the serene, effortless glide of a normal stir, it clumsily rocked around the tin like a bowl of gravel. My new beloved julip strainer was no match for the width of the tin, and large shards of ice tumbled into the glass. And the lemon, a precious Meyer lemon I received a few weeks ago, was clearly past its prime and the peel snapped repeatedly as I tried to wrestle the oils into the glass.

On Tippling: Aside from the ice shards, the drink itself was delightful as ever. The Pernod gave it a pleasant aromatic, but I think I prefer Orange Bitters to spice up this drink.

Takeaway: Once you have a tried and true stirring method, don't fuck with it.

The Scofflaw

Seeing as I had a half naked lemon sitting on my counter, I figured I should use it up before it was rendered unusable. And I LOVE the story of this drink: The Boston Herald held a contest to invent a new word to characterize the evils of the lawless boozehound; Harry's New York Bar in Paris immediately turned around and created this drink. And seeing as the Vermouth was already out on the counter, I thought I was a pretty clever guy. I should have ignored my thriftier instincts and retired the lemon to the recycling bin.

2 oz. Bourbon (Bulleit)

1 oz. Dry Vermouth (Boissiere)

.5 oz. Lemon Juice

.25 oz. Grenadine

dash Orange Bitters

Construction: Aside from the squirt of lemon juice that shot into my eye as I squeezed it (yow!), it's an ordinary drink to make. Shake, strain, suck it down.

On Tippling: Another fairly mundane sour, with some weird interplay between the lemon and the homemade grenadine. Both have been sitting in my refrigerator for some time, and the grenadine especially seems to have lost the electric tang of fresh pomegranate it once possessed. Even with the spirit-heavy proportions, the bourbon really gets lost- and that's one heck of a tragedy.

Takeaway: The word "Scofflaw" has come to mean "A person who flouts the law, especially an unsustainable one." I should respect my own maxim to stop flirting with old citrus. Might be tastier with a spicier rye whiskey. Also wondering about the proportions- online the grenadine/ lemon measurements range from a whopping .75 oz each to a piddling .25 oz lemon juice and a dash of grenadine.