The Martinez

I've been staring at the Martinez for awhile now, ever since Food 52 shared this recipe in January. After trekking around {a little} for a bottle of Luxardo Maraschino, I finally got to make one. While it still doesn't oust my favourite Negroni, this comes pretty close.

The vermouth provides a lovely sweet spiced note, whilst the gin takes things in the other direction with juniper and florals; The maraschino (with an almond like flavour) balances the two. Finally, some orange bitters and an orange twist for extra complexity.

This is certainly a fall/winter cocktail, with the sweetness and spiced notes of the vermouth and maraschino, but it coincided perfectly with our 'New York night' on Friday. We made kale crostini with harissa aioli, meatballs (and spaghetti) and caesar salad, all inspired by Frankies Spuntino in NY... And ate and chatted with two friends in our very tiny apartment.

A martinez recipe is below, and you can find a recipe for Frankies' Meatballs here.

Martinez

Adapted from Food 52

2 oz gin (I used Victoria)

1 oz sweet vermouth (VYA)

1/2 oz maraschino (Luxardo)

2-3 dashes orange bitters (Victoria)

Garnish - Orange peel

Fill a mixing glass about half way with ice, add everything but the garnish and stir. Strain into your glass of choice and garnish with an orange peel.