The art of the cocktail is very special to me. My parents had a wet bar in our family room when I was growing up and my mom and dad had Happy Hour most evenings. They were very careful about their drinking, and continue to be. They are very particular about how their cocktails are prepared and a lot of thought and care goes into making libations each evening. I grew up watching my mom muddle fresh mint from her garden with sugar in small pewter tumblers and add freshly crushed ice and bourbon to make Mint Juleps in the summer. She would carefully prepare gin or vodka martinis for my dad when he got home from the office in a lovely clear glass pitcher, stirring them carefully and pouring them into crystal martini glasses and then garnishing them with one perfect pimento stuffed olive. I remember marveling at the beauty of the Galliano bottle that no one ever touched, wishing I could taste the elixir within. It sat tall and proud on one of the glass shelves on the bar. Dad had a sign that hung on the back of the bar that said, "Lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine". Funny, that.
My first martini experience, though, was with my grandmother. I was visiting with her and my grandfather during a holiday weekend while I was in college. I was just 21 and she thought it would be fun to show me how to make a classic. She carefully measured the vodka, eyeballing it, into the ceramic cocktail pitcher that she always used. She added just a dash of vermouth and stirred it for a good minute. Then she poured off three perfect martinis, and garnished them with olives on toothpicks. We sat down in the living room together and raised our glasses to celebrate being together. I was in love at first sip! I'm certain that if she wasn't suffering with Alzheimer's, she would still be enjoying her evening cocktail at 95.
While I prefer my martinis shaken, not stirred, and often enjoy a glass of wine or three instead of a cocktail in the evenings, I rarely miss Happy Hour, as it's one of the ways that my husband and I or my girlfriends and I reconnect after time apart. It doesn't really matter what it is that's in the shaker, it's the act of making the cocktail and serving it that starts the conversation flowing.
My all time favorite martini is the 007. Fill a shaker with ice. Measure 1 1/2 oz of vodka, 1 1/2 oz of gin, and add a wee splash of Lillet. Shake well, until the shaker is frosty on the outside. Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish with olives. You should have shards of ice in your cocktail! Perfect! The trick to this is the Lillet, and the spirits you choose. The classic 007 is prepared with Boodles Gin and Stoli Vodka.
Currently in heavy rotation for Happy Hour is a new style Greyhound. I shave some ice and fill a cocktail glass with it. I use a snow cone machine. I measure out 2 ounces of pepper vodka and top off with fresh grapefruit juice. The pepper vodka I'm currently using is Downslope vodka that is distilled here in Denver. Yum Yum Yum!!!
What are some of your favorite cocktails and stories that go with them?
My first martini experience, though, was with my grandmother. I was visiting with her and my grandfather during a holiday weekend while I was in college. I was just 21 and she thought it would be fun to show me how to make a classic. She carefully measured the vodka, eyeballing it, into the ceramic cocktail pitcher that she always used. She added just a dash of vermouth and stirred it for a good minute. Then she poured off three perfect martinis, and garnished them with olives on toothpicks. We sat down in the living room together and raised our glasses to celebrate being together. I was in love at first sip! I'm certain that if she wasn't suffering with Alzheimer's, she would still be enjoying her evening cocktail at 95.
While I prefer my martinis shaken, not stirred, and often enjoy a glass of wine or three instead of a cocktail in the evenings, I rarely miss Happy Hour, as it's one of the ways that my husband and I or my girlfriends and I reconnect after time apart. It doesn't really matter what it is that's in the shaker, it's the act of making the cocktail and serving it that starts the conversation flowing.
My all time favorite martini is the 007. Fill a shaker with ice. Measure 1 1/2 oz of vodka, 1 1/2 oz of gin, and add a wee splash of Lillet. Shake well, until the shaker is frosty on the outside. Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish with olives. You should have shards of ice in your cocktail! Perfect! The trick to this is the Lillet, and the spirits you choose. The classic 007 is prepared with Boodles Gin and Stoli Vodka.
Currently in heavy rotation for Happy Hour is a new style Greyhound. I shave some ice and fill a cocktail glass with it. I use a snow cone machine. I measure out 2 ounces of pepper vodka and top off with fresh grapefruit juice. The pepper vodka I'm currently using is Downslope vodka that is distilled here in Denver. Yum Yum Yum!!!
What are some of your favorite cocktails and stories that go with them?
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I should have checked the liquor cabinet... Oh well, it's time for bed anyway.
