Tee More Marthrinis

While we are still on the subject of martinis, I will admit that the classic and the pama are the faves, but we do like to mix it up a bit from time to time.  Here are tee more marthrini, I mean, three more martini recipes that we think you might enjoy.

#1

The Lemon Drop Martini is basically a lemon drop that is too good to shoot.  You’ll want to sip and enjoy!  Using the Limoncello liqueur, you don’t need to add extra sugar because the sugar is already in the liquor.  And remember, it is a martini, not a fru-fru girly drink so you don’t want it too sweet (not that there is anything wrong with fru-fru girly drinks.)

Lemon Drop Martini

2 shots Vodka

1 shot Limoncello

2 Lemon slices

Prepare glasses in advance by chilling and then dipping the edges in lemon juice then in granulated sugar. 

Pour vodka and Limoncello into shaker, squeeze one of the lemon slices, and add ice.  Shake well.  Serve in chilled, sugar rimmed glasses with a lemon slice for garnish.

“What a twist!”

(A nice twist on this one is to combine it with the PamaTini to make the PamaLemaTini.  Simply split the amount of Limoncello with equal parts Pama pomegranate liqueur.  We found a fun pre-made pomegranate sugar glass rimmer made by a company called Stirrings that is pretty good with the PamaLemaTini.)

#2

Another one we like is the Pear Martini.  We found Absolut Pears, and thought it sounded delicious, and so Scott had the idea for pear martinis.  We made them for a couple of happy hours and they were a big hit.  

Suzi also made them as a DIVA drink one year and they weren’t quite as big a hit.  But they sure were pretty…

Pear Martini

3 shots Absolut Pears Vodka

1 shot Goya Pear Nectar

Asian pear slice

Pour into shaker, add ice and shake vigorously.  Serve straight up in a chilled glass and garnish with an Asian pear slice.

#3

Ok, so we really got into martinis for a while there.  One night we were talking about the classic olive martini and started discussing things other than olives that would be good in a martini.  Of course there is the obvious cocktail onion, some folks like a jalapeno or chili for a little spice.  But then Scott came up with dill pickle, and Dill Pickle Martinis were born.  
This drink goes great with a club sandwich and a bag of chips. 

Dill Pickle Martini

3 shots Vodka

Threaten with Dry Vermouth

Threaten with pickle juice

Pickle slice for garnish

Pour into shaker with ice, shake vigorously, serve up in chilled glasses.  Garnish with pickle slice.

This is simply the Classic Olive Martini made dirty, but instead of an olive and olive juice, use a slice of dill pickle and pickle juice.  

Shaken Not Stirred

Martinis are a favorite around here.  PamaTinis, featured in the previous post, are standard happy hour fare, running neck and neck with the classic olive martini.  There is, without a doubt, an art to making a really great martini.  Most bars use too much vermouth or none at all.  The trick to the perfect martini is just the right amount of vermouth, vigorous shaking and good quality olives.  You want fresh vermouth too.  A bottle sits a long time on most bars and it will go stale.  Replace it ever so often even if it’s not empty.  For a while there, we were having a terrible time finding good olives.  They were hard, thick skinned, or bitter.  One drawback of living on an island is that we sometimes have limited supplies available to us.  We have settled on Iberia Spanish Olives, the small, pimento stuffed variety.  Scott is a purist and likes the solitary olive floating in the drink.  Suzi wants at least 3 olives, preferably speared on a toothpick, and if they happen to be stuffed with bleu cheese, that is even better. 

Classic Olive Martini

3 shots Vodka

Dry Vermouth … measurements can get tricky as this is really a taste thing.  You can experiment, but Scott says he gives it somewhere between “Threaten” and a “Splash.”  (Approximately ½ teaspoon at most for a 3 oz martini would be a good guideline.) 

Pour liquids into shaker, add ice and shake vigorously.  (The shaking is key here.  It is important to “bruise” the liquor, basically meaning, it becomes well aerated.)  Serve in chilled up glasses with olive(s) for garnish.

Remember, we use soup bowl glasses.  If your up glasses are smaller, you might need to cut back on the measurements or use a sidecar for the extra.

To make a dirty martini, instead of putting olive juice in the drink itself, try putting a juicy olive in the shaker along with the ice and other ingredients.

PamaTini

We were first introduced to pomegranate martinis in Chattanooga.  The girls took Suzi to lunch at a place downtown called Food Works once when she was visiting and they ordered pomegranate martinis.  If you know Suzi, you know that getting a buzz at lunch is one of her favorite things (she says, “It’s just so festive.”) 

A few months later, back in Chattanooga with Scott for her big 40^th celebration, she made the now legen- (wait for it) -dary plan of bar hopping downtown and drinking all day…the day before the BIG party.  It was a fabulous day of pomegranate martinis at nearly every bar in downtown Chattanooga.  With the benefit of hindsight, probably not such a hot idea, but a fabulous day nonetheless.

And so, pomegranate martinis became a favorite.  However, while we have tasted some very good ones in some nice bars, none of them quite lived up to expectations.  If you look up recipes, many of them call for ingredients like grapefruit juice.  It makes for a tasty drink, but just not pomegranatey enough to suit us.  Scott stepped up to the challenge and came up with the ultimate, juiciest pamatini using good pomegranate juice, and it has become a staple around our bar.  We have even squeezed and strained fresh pomegranate juice, and it was wonderful but a lot of work. 

They have been called dangerous, they’ve been called truth serum…they go down like kool-aid and they are delicious.

PamaTini

2 parts Skyy Vodka

1 part PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur

1 part POM Wonderful pomegranate juice (any quality 100% pom juice will work)

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice, shake well and serve straight up in chilled glasses.  A pitted black cherry makes a very nice garnish.

PamaTini’s were the featured drink in the Electric Swinging Pussycat Lounge at Gary’s 60’s Flashback Party, served by Austin Powers himself. 

"Cheers Baby, Yeah!"

Yapple Dapple

One hot Saturday morning during the summer, we were hanging out in the backyard, floating in the pool and getting some sun.  About drink-thirty, Scott went inside to make up something delicious for us to drink.  He is a bit of an apple juice addict, and had been raving about a particularly good batch of Simply Apple he had recently opened.  And so, Apple Pie Daquiri's or Yapple Dapple's were created. 

Make them up in the blender, go light on the Cinnamon Schnapps...you want to give it a hint of spice, you don't want a cinnamon daquiri. 

Best enjoyed while floating in a pool. 

And you  must use the Babu/Joe voice when you say "Yapple Dapple!"

 Yapple Dapple

1 part Gold Rum (Anniversaro for a decadent daquiri, but Bacardi Gold is fine.)

1 part Dark Rum (Coruba or Myers's)

Splash Hot Damn Cinnamon Schnapps

Simply Apple Juice

Ice

Mix all ingredients in blender, pack with ice and blend until smooth. 
Serve in hurricane glasses with a straw and apple slice for garnish.

Cheers!

Yucca

We were first introduced to this drink at Timberline Resort in Crossville TN, the first nudist resort we ever visited.  It is a particularly memorable experience to have shaken the Yucca jar with a group of naked people… centrifugal force and all…

This was also another DIVA drink.  Suzi tried to get the girls kicked out of their condo complex the first year by making this her happy hour drink. 

Complaints to management included, “They are gyrating their hips” and “They have a watermelon.”  To this day, we aren’t sure why anyone was so offended by gyrating hips or by a watermelon. 

If they had known that the towel wrapped package being shaken by a bunch of drunk gyrating women was actually a glass jar not a watermelon at all, they really would have had something to complain about!



The next time you have a group of scantily clad (or less) people and want a group activity drink, get out your suntea jar, squeeze some lemons, get shaking and have some fun in the sun!

Key Largo Lemonade

The name of our island is Key Largo.  We moved here from the great state of Tennessee, and used to live less than 100 miles from Lynchberg, where they make Jack Daniels.  Neither of us have ever been big whiskey drinkers, but Scott would from time to time make the classic Lynchberg Lemonade.  Suzi never liked it at all. 

Back in 2007 Suzi needed a DIVA drink idea so she went to Scott for help, like she did every year.  DIVA Fest is Suzi’s annual all girl vacation.  One of the highlights of the DIVA week is the themed happy hours.  Scott always helps her come up with a tasty and usually original concoction for the occasion. 
So that year he came up with a twist on the Lynchberg Lemonade, using rum instead of whiskey and making it a pretty and very key-sy pink... and viola, Key Largo Lemonade was born.  It was a big hit with the DIVA’s, and quite yummy served with bacon wrapped scallops.

It was a big hit again at Becky’s Beachin’ Birthday Bash in May 2008, when we built a beach in north Georgia for Beck’s 50^th birthday.   We made up large batches in sun tea jars and served them from the tiki bar.  Special glasses were printed for the event (thanks Dad!) 

Funny side story to this drink’s history is that the rum of choice isn’t made anymore.  We found the Pirates Choice Key Lime Rum in our local liquor store, liked the name and bought it.  Turned out it was perfect for this new drink so we started buying a lot of it.  Scott even ran into the distributor at Cheeca Lodge bar one night and told him about Key Largo Lemonade.  The guy was tickled.  He took the recipe and said he was going to have it added as an official recipe for the rum.  We never heard any more about it.  And unfortunately, we must have been the only people buying it because they quit making it.  There are other key lime rums…Parrot’s Bay makes a pretty good one.  But if you see Pirates Choice, get it.

Key Largo Lemonade

1 shot Key Lime Rum

1 shot Malibu Mango Rum

Pink Lemonade

7-Up

Ice

Lemon slices and maraschino cherries for garnish

Pour rums over ice, fill a hurricane glass almost full with pink lemonade and top with a splash of 7-up.  Garnish by floating a lemon slice on top with a cherry in the middle and a straw.

Cheers!

Welcome to our bar

Welcome.  For years people have been telling us we have the best bar and best bartender (Scott) in town.  Subscribing to the philosophy that life is too short to drink cheap liquor, we stock a pretty top shelf bar.  Cocktails don't always require the finest booze, but don't slum it too much.  Remember, life is too short...

Ok, first of all, allow us introduce you to our bar:

RUM 

Top Shelf:  Ron Zacapa 23 anos.  Anniversario Pampero. 

Mid Shelf:  Bacardi Gold, Captain Morgan's, Malibu Mango, Malibu Coconut, Myers's Dark (Coruba Dark is preferred if you can find it.)

VODKA

Skyy (Scott says "It's the only way to fly...") Absolute vs. Grey Goose (This is a running debate around here.  Scott says Goose is just popular and over-priced.  Suzi kinda likes it.)

GIN

Tanqueray No. 10.  Bombay Saphire.

WHISKEY

Crown Royal

BOURBON

Top Shelf:   Knob Creek.  Woodford's Reserve

Mid Shelf:   Maker's Mark

TEQUILA

Top Shelf:   Herradura Anejo

Mid Shelf:  Jose Cuervo Gold

ABSINTHE
Trul Absinthium 1792.  Trul Absinthium Red.  Trul Absinthium Black. Le Muse Verte. (Our favorite Czech and French high thujone Absinthe's, ordered from http://www.eabsinthe.com/.)

LIQUEURS/MIXERS

Grand Marnier.  Kahlua Especial.  Disaronno Amaretto.  PAMA Pomegranate Flavored Liqueur.  Limoncello.  Bailey's Irish Cream.  Hpnotiq.  Chambord.  Blackberry Brandy.  Dry Vermouth.  Sweet Vermouth.  Angostura Bitters.  Agave Nectar.  Simple Syrup.

You will have your own favorites and preferences, so feel free to substitute brands as you see fit.  The only rule is that you use good liquor.


Of course, you will need the proper bar tools and glassware.  A good shaker is a must.  Big Boy highball glasses, chilled soup bowl "up" glasses and frozen beer glasses are necessary.  Daquiri/girly drink glasses are helpful, as well as a wide assortment of toothpicks, stirrers, straws and proper garnishes.  (When we get to Absinthe we'll have to talk...)

The next thing you should know is that math is not too involved.  Scott generally free pours and eyeballs his measurements.  Mixology is as much an art as it is a science.  In our experience, the best cocktails are the ones you have a "feeling" for, rather than a strict, measured recipe.  Method of mixing is just as important (i.e. "shaken, not stirred" or "bruising" the liquor instead of simply mixing it.)  For those needing numerical volumes, this is about as good as it gets:          

1 Shot  = 1 oz
1 Jigger  = 1 1/2 oz
Also:
"Short Shot" = about 1/4-1/3 of a shot
"Splash" = fairly self-explanatory
"Threaten" = literally 1-3 drops
"Parts" = ratio for mixing large quantities

Happy mixing!  Cheers!

S&S