Urban Bar: French Martinis
If the transmissions I’m receiving on my Twitter feed are any indication, everyone attending this year’s Tales of the Cocktail (#totc) is, as expected, having a grand time in N’awlins. Cocktail classes and events are especially appropriate for summertime, when the heat and humidity shoo us all inside as readily as the snow and ice do in winter. From TOTC, I notice a spike in interest in Kahlua-influenced cocktails, a trend of which readers of Urban Bar already know I approve, as we spent last winter reading about and preparing Black Russians for cocktail hour. One colleague calls me a “Russenabler,” to which I respond that I am a “Russevangelist.” Another colleague shared an interaction with a Gin Garden, which could have referred to the cocktail, a bar where one was served, or a place where were grown the herbs that flavor this distinctive spirit.
I am on record in print, as well as extemporaneously from many a bar stool, as firmly believing that a martini is only a martini if it contains gin, vermouth, and olives. With its complex, intertwined layers of flavor, iced gin makes the perfect cushion for the silken slipcover of dry vermouth, and that is why a gin martini is a true martini. The only true wiggle room is in the proportion of the pour, the measurement of which is debated over and accomplished with every bartending philosophy from scientific exactitude to intuitive knowing. To read my recipe for Clean Martinis, click here.
That said, I have also acknowledged my own human frailty by admitting that I will dabble in composed martinis. My favorite is the saké martini, for its personality that is playful and serious at once. Composed cocktails grew out of the practice, during the renaissance of retro cocktail culture, of fashioning new drinks for in crowds. Many such are riffs on the ratio of spirit:mixer whose purest expression is the martini. In a practice that is erroneous in letter but true in spirit, they are called martinis, but as gin is a complex flavor to play with, they usually start with vodka. Fashioning new drinks for in crowds is not a new practice – it is how almost any cocktail evolved. Cocktails come from sources as obscure as an innkeeper’s resourcefulness or as direct as an advertiser’s storyboard. And cocktails with common names unavoidably have more than one interpretation.
Take, par exemple, the French martini. Among innumerable interpretations of this cocktail, two prevail. In most American bars, if you order a French martini, you will receive a confection of vodka, Chambord (the French liqueur flavored with black raspberries, honey and herbs) and pineapple juice. It is widely acknowledged that this martini was created by the Chambord company to highlight its product, and among drinkers of sweet martinis (sweetinis?) its popularity at any given moment is rivaled only by the cosmopolitan and the appletini. In la belle France, if you order a French martini, first you will be given a chance to correct yourself by being asked if you mean a martini rouge. However you answer, your drink will be interpreted as gin and sweet vermouth garnished with an olive and a twist. Here is where it gets interesting, because, once the steamliner deposits us back on American shores, we find that a martini rouge is gin and Chambord, which completes the circle with an elegance that I’m sure we all agree is most chic.
In honor of Tales of the Cocktail and its big easy locale, as well as the receding battle cries from this year’s Bastille Day, below are three versions of French Martinis. Prepare any (or all) of them and settle into your deepest reverie as we settle into summer’s laziest days.
French Martinis
To ice martini glasses, place ice in the well of each glass and fill the glass with cold water. Set the glasses aside to ice down while you build the cocktail. Empty the water and ice from each glass just before decanting the cocktail into the glass.
To make a twist, use a commercial produce cleaner to clean a lemon (preferably organic). Dry the lemon. Use a zester or small paring knife to exise a strip of peel about one inch in length. Before placing the peel in the glass, twist the peel over the drink, releasing the oils onto the surface of the cocktail.
French Martini
2 shots good vodka, such as Absolut, Ketel One or Gray Goose
1 shot Chambord
1 6-ounce can pineapple juice
2 lemon twists
1. Ice down two martini glasses.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker reserved for clear alcohol with ice.
3. Add the vodka, Chambord and pineapple juice in that order.
4. Place the lid on the shaker and shake vigorously -- up and down, not side to side -- until the top is too cold to touch.
5. Empty the water and ice from each glass.
6. Remove the cap from the shaker. You should have a silken, deep rose cocktail with a lot of foam on top.
7. Decant the martinis into iced glasses, pouring the liquid first and then topping each glass with foam.
8. Twist a lemon peel over each cocktail and perch the twist on the rim of the glass. Serve immediately.
Martini Rouge Un
1 shot good gin, such as Tanqueray, Bombay or Hendricks
1/3 shot sweet French vermouth, such as Dolin Vermouth Rouge
1 green olive
1 lemon twist
1. Ice down a martini glass.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker reserved for clear alcohol halfway with ice.
3. Measure the gin and vermouth into the shaker.
4. Place the lid on the shaker and shake gentlly – up and down, not side to side – until the top is too cold to touch.
5. Empty the water and ice from the martini glass. Place the olive in the well of the glass.
6. Remove the cap from the shaker. Decant the martini into the iced glass.
7. Twist the lemon peel over the cocktail and then drop the peel onto the cocktail’s surface. Serve immediately.
Martini Rouge Deux
1 shot good gin, such as Tanqueray, Bombay or Hendricks
¼ shot Chambord
1 lemon twist
1. Ice down a martini glass.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker reserved for clear alcohol halfway with ice.
3. Measure the gin and Chambord into the shaker.
4. Place the lid on the shaker and shake gentlly – up and down, not side to side – until the top is too cold to touch.
5. Empty the water and ice from the martini glass.
6. Remove the cap from the shaker. Decant the martini into the iced glass.
7. Twist the lemon peel over the cocktail and then drop the peel onto the cocktail’s surface. Serve immediately.
I am on record in print, as well as extemporaneously from many a bar stool, as firmly believing that a martini is only a martini if it contains gin, vermouth, and olives. With its complex, intertwined layers of flavor, iced gin makes the perfect cushion for the silken slipcover of dry vermouth, and that is why a gin martini is a true martini. The only true wiggle room is in the proportion of the pour, the measurement of which is debated over and accomplished with every bartending philosophy from scientific exactitude to intuitive knowing. To read my recipe for Clean Martinis, click here.
That said, I have also acknowledged my own human frailty by admitting that I will dabble in composed martinis. My favorite is the saké martini, for its personality that is playful and serious at once. Composed cocktails grew out of the practice, during the renaissance of retro cocktail culture, of fashioning new drinks for in crowds. Many such are riffs on the ratio of spirit:mixer whose purest expression is the martini. In a practice that is erroneous in letter but true in spirit, they are called martinis, but as gin is a complex flavor to play with, they usually start with vodka. Fashioning new drinks for in crowds is not a new practice – it is how almost any cocktail evolved. Cocktails come from sources as obscure as an innkeeper’s resourcefulness or as direct as an advertiser’s storyboard. And cocktails with common names unavoidably have more than one interpretation.
Take, par exemple, the French martini. Among innumerable interpretations of this cocktail, two prevail. In most American bars, if you order a French martini, you will receive a confection of vodka, Chambord (the French liqueur flavored with black raspberries, honey and herbs) and pineapple juice. It is widely acknowledged that this martini was created by the Chambord company to highlight its product, and among drinkers of sweet martinis (sweetinis?) its popularity at any given moment is rivaled only by the cosmopolitan and the appletini. In la belle France, if you order a French martini, first you will be given a chance to correct yourself by being asked if you mean a martini rouge. However you answer, your drink will be interpreted as gin and sweet vermouth garnished with an olive and a twist. Here is where it gets interesting, because, once the steamliner deposits us back on American shores, we find that a martini rouge is gin and Chambord, which completes the circle with an elegance that I’m sure we all agree is most chic.
In honor of Tales of the Cocktail and its big easy locale, as well as the receding battle cries from this year’s Bastille Day, below are three versions of French Martinis. Prepare any (or all) of them and settle into your deepest reverie as we settle into summer’s laziest days.
French Martinis
To ice martini glasses, place ice in the well of each glass and fill the glass with cold water. Set the glasses aside to ice down while you build the cocktail. Empty the water and ice from each glass just before decanting the cocktail into the glass.
To make a twist, use a commercial produce cleaner to clean a lemon (preferably organic). Dry the lemon. Use a zester or small paring knife to exise a strip of peel about one inch in length. Before placing the peel in the glass, twist the peel over the drink, releasing the oils onto the surface of the cocktail.
French Martini
2 shots good vodka, such as Absolut, Ketel One or Gray Goose
1 shot Chambord
1 6-ounce can pineapple juice
2 lemon twists
1. Ice down two martini glasses.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker reserved for clear alcohol with ice.
3. Add the vodka, Chambord and pineapple juice in that order.
4. Place the lid on the shaker and shake vigorously -- up and down, not side to side -- until the top is too cold to touch.
5. Empty the water and ice from each glass.
6. Remove the cap from the shaker. You should have a silken, deep rose cocktail with a lot of foam on top.
7. Decant the martinis into iced glasses, pouring the liquid first and then topping each glass with foam.
8. Twist a lemon peel over each cocktail and perch the twist on the rim of the glass. Serve immediately.
Martini Rouge Un
1 shot good gin, such as Tanqueray, Bombay or Hendricks
1/3 shot sweet French vermouth, such as Dolin Vermouth Rouge
1 green olive
1 lemon twist
1. Ice down a martini glass.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker reserved for clear alcohol halfway with ice.
3. Measure the gin and vermouth into the shaker.
4. Place the lid on the shaker and shake gentlly – up and down, not side to side – until the top is too cold to touch.
5. Empty the water and ice from the martini glass. Place the olive in the well of the glass.
6. Remove the cap from the shaker. Decant the martini into the iced glass.
7. Twist the lemon peel over the cocktail and then drop the peel onto the cocktail’s surface. Serve immediately.
Martini Rouge Deux
1 shot good gin, such as Tanqueray, Bombay or Hendricks
¼ shot Chambord
1 lemon twist
1. Ice down a martini glass.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker reserved for clear alcohol halfway with ice.
3. Measure the gin and Chambord into the shaker.
4. Place the lid on the shaker and shake gentlly – up and down, not side to side – until the top is too cold to touch.
5. Empty the water and ice from the martini glass.
6. Remove the cap from the shaker. Decant the martini into the iced glass.
7. Twist the lemon peel over the cocktail and then drop the peel onto the cocktail’s surface. Serve immediately.
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