Bimini Gin: Sunshine in a Bottle

2016-04-292016-04-29 / Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Melissa-Martini-No-2-1

Woooooohoo-hoo-hoo y’all, I’ve got it! I’ve got the fun we’ve been looking for!

I recently had the supreme pleasure of tasting a new Gin at Pouring Ribbons here in NYC. It was one of their Monday night 80s parties and they were making Pretty In Pink themed cocktails. I saw a tasty looking Negroni variation with Bimini Gin, Campari, Red Grapefruit + some other fun stuff and ordered one.

It was totally awesome and the Gin was soooooooo good!

Bimini-Gin

Like SO SO SO GOOD! Fortunately for me, Darren Case (creator of Bimini) was at the party handing out samples of his fabulous Gin and I got to taste it.

With notes of Citrus peel, flowers, Coriander, Cardamom, a shimmering viscosity, and some kind of extra magic, Bimini Gin is literally perfect for hot weather cocktails. Like, I want to make a million Tom Collins with this stuff.

Melissa-Martini-No-2-4

But first things first, what do we do when we get a new Gin? We make a Martini.

Melissa-Martini-No-2-3

For Bimini Gin, I felt a Melissa Martini was the best way to go cause this bright, sunny Gin is begging for Lemon Balm + Dolin Blanc.

Melissa-Martini-No-2-5

I’ve changed the ratios from the original Melissa Martini and nixed the Absinthe to better pair with the lightness of Bimini Gin.

Melissa Martini No. 2

2 1/4 oz Bimini Gin
1/2 oz Dolin Blanc (Carpano Bianco would be awesome too)
Garnish: Lemon Balm leaf

Combine ingredients over ice and stirrrrrrrr til it becomes a bit cloudy. Strain into chilled coupe. Spank the Lemon Balm leaf, rub it on the glass, smell it, and garnish.

Melissa-Martini-No-2-6

You can bet I will be making more cocktails with Bimini Gin, so stay tuned! Cheers to our upcoming summer weather!

He Was A Sage Bro

2015-07-172015-07-16 / Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

SAGE. SAAAAAAAAAGE. What started as a little trip to the Farmer’s Market turned into one of the most enjoyable weeks of drink making I’ve had all year. Sage is so earthy, has such depth of flavor, and is perfect for muddling into Cocktails!

If only you could last forever, I would never let you go. #SageLover

I’ve got one last cocktail to wrap up this week’s Sage + Gin party and it’s a stirred drink. This one is a riff on a 2:1 Martini with a bit of Chartreuse Vert for its vegetal qualities and using one of my fave Vermouths, Carpano Bianco.

As far as the name goes, um, it sort of popped in my head and I sort of said, “Ok Bro.”

He Was A Sage Bro

2 oz Plymouth Gin (or a similar Gin)
1 oz Carpano Bianco
1/4 oz Chartreuse Vert
5-6 Sage leaves
Garnish: Sage leaf

Combine ingredients and gently muddle Sage leaves. Add ice and give it a nice long stir. Double strain into chilled coupe and garnish with one Sage leaf.

Thanks lil bundle of Sage for all the magic and thanks to The Baddish Group for the Carpano Bianco!

Our Summer Martini: Melissa Martini

2015-06-222015-06-21 / Dani DeLuna / 4 Comments

As temperatures climb, I’m looking for ways to have lower and lower octane cocktails. I want deliciousness, but I want it light and fragrant y’all. It’s time to break out the Blanc Vermouth, brightest Gin you have, some tasty Absinthe, and fresh herbs for garnish.

I recently took a trip down to my local plant shop and got Lemon Balm and Mint to add to the recently acquired Basil plant. If you haven’t smelled Lemon Balm before, it’s definitely Lemony but also astringent, kind of minty and herbaceous in an Anise sort of way. In otherwords, it’s perfect as a cocktail garnish.

I mean, look at it this Lemon Balm! It’s a stunning leaf and so wonderfully fragrant. I highly recommend getting a plant and putting it in your garden or window sill. Lots of sun & water = happy Lemon Balm.

I’m actually so into the Lemon Balm that I named the drink Melissa which is the greek name for this plant. I am of course using the Berkshire Mountain Distillery Ethereal Gin Batch 9 because it’s supremely bright, floral, fragrant, and well, it makes me feel happy. If you can get this Gin, do it!

Melissa Martini

1 1/2 oz Berkshire Mountain Distillery Ethereal Gin Batch 9 (sub the brightest Gin you’ve got)
1 1/2 oz Dolin Blanc (Sub Carpano Bianco)
rinse St. George Absinthe Verte
Garnish: Lemon Balm leaf

Rinse a coupe with Absinthe and chill. Combine Gin and Blanc over ice and give it a very very long stir. Dilution is key to the lightness of this Martini. Strain into rinsed coupe, spank the Lemon Balm and garnish.

Cheers!

Drinking with Mad Men Season 7: the Martini

2015-05-102015-05-09 / Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

To celebrate “The End of An Era”, welcome to a series of drinks from the television show Mad Men. Each week I’ll be featuring a different cocktail from the show, so we can all drink along with our favourite Madison Avenue Ad-men and women.

You guys, WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE LAST TWO EPISODES!?! Will Don drive to California for that “golden state dream” that he’s always had? Will he go to the family farm and encounter something terrible? Will he go back to Manhattan and jump out of the window at McCann? You know he’s always had a thing about death…

OMINOUS!

As we near the end of the show, you knew that one of these posts had to include Martinis and so here we are!

Look at Roger’s Casual but serious Martini with an Olive. Image via AMC.

And here Jim is looking very sharp with his Martini with an Olive. Image via AMC.

I like to drink my Martinis in the following format:

Martini

2 1/4 oz Plymouth Dry Gin
3/4 oz Carpano Dry Vermouth
Garnish: Lemon peel or Olives

Combine ingredients over ice and give it a nice long stir. Strain into chilled coupe and garnish.

Here it is again with a Lemon peel. If you’re going to add the lemon peel, perhaps add two dashes of Orange Bitters.

Here are the PPL chaps and Duck having a Gibson Martini which is essentially a martini with more Gin, less Vermouth and a cocktail Onion. Image via Netflix screen grab.

I don’t have any Cocktail Onions at home but I do have some delicious pickled Red Onion that my girlfriend made so we’ll go with that! This is quite tasty by the bye, definitely onion-y but certainly tasty.

Gibson Martini

2 3/4 oz Dry Gin
1/4 – 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
Garnish: Cocktail Onion or (in this case) pickled Red Onion.

Combine ingredients over ice and give it a lonnnnnng stir. Strain into chilled coup and garnish with Onion.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed Martini Time! May your drinks be delicious and our Mad Men viewing not give us all heart attacks! Cheers!

I’ll be doing this series until the end of Mad Men, so see you next week!

Sakura Martini

2015-04-222015-04-22 / Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Over the weekend all of the Cherry Blossom trees in my neighborhood bloomed and it’s been the most magnificent sight! There is a tree literally right in front of our apartment which was in full bloom ’til yesterday when a crazy rainstorm swept all of the flowers away. Tears. Fortunately, my girlfriend and I had already acquired some of these beautiful lil flowers for the following drink.

The inspiration for the drink was obviously the Cherry Blossoms, then I thought, Martini. Saké was my next choice and Dolin Blanc pulled all together.

Sakura Martini

2 oz Plymouth Gin
1 oz Yoshinogawa Junmai Ginjo Saké
3/4 oz Fennel infused Dolin Blanc
Grapefruit peel
Garnish: Cherry Blossoms

Combine Gin, Sake and Dolin Blanc over ice and stir until proper chilling and dilution have been achieved. Strain into coupe, express Grapefruit peel and discard. Garnish with Cherry Blossoms.

Happy Sakura Festivals to all of you in Cherry Blossom Land and Happy Earth Day to us all!

You’re So Kind: NOLET’S Silver Gin

2014-12-052014-12-05 / Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

I would like to once again thank those kind people at MBooth Marketing for giving me the opportunity to work with such a fantastic product. Aren’t they kind? THEY’RE SO INCREDIBLY KIND!

Ok, wow, like really wow. NOLET’S Silver Gin is sensational! It’s unlike any Gin I’ve ever had and if you’ve read the My Home Bar page of this blog, you know that I am INTO GIN! When tasting it neat, the nose is some outrageous combination of Turkish Rose, Peach and Raspberry, then comes more familiar Gin botanicals. The palate is smooth and silky Gin beautifulness. Truly, I was blown away.

I feel like NOLET’S Silver and I are going to have a long and fruitful relationship. I’m planning to do some strange and wonderous things with this Gin, I’m planning to use it with lots of fruit, hell, I’m planning to drink it neat with a Lemon twist. Right? It’s so good neat!

And now, the cocktails:

It’s an Improved Martini except because NOLET’S Silver is so different from any Gin that I’d usually use in a Martini, it’s NOT A MARTINI! I swapped out Dolin Dry for Dolin Blanc and added a rinse of St. George Absinthe Verte. Brilliant right? Just wait and see!

Half Light

2 1/2 oz NOLET’S Silver Gin
1/2 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
2 dashes of Regans’ No. 6 Orange Bitters
St. George Absinthe Verte Rinse
Lemon Peel

Rinse coupe with Absinthe and chill. In tin, combine Gin, Vermouth, Bitters over cracked ice and stir. Strain into coupe, express Lemon peel and garnish.

This is a Variation on a Sunflower Cocktail which is a Variation on a Corpse Reviver No. 2. I swapped out the Cointreau for Berentzen Pear Liqueur, ditched the Absinthe, adjusted the ratios a touch and added an Asian Pear Slice as garnish. Divine. A fabulous shaken Wintry Cocktail!

Winter Blossom

1 oz NOLET’S Silver Gin
3/4 oz Berentzen Pear Liqueur
3/4 oz St-Germain
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
Asian Pear Slice

In tin, combine Gin, Pear Liqueur, St-G and Lemon Juice over ice and shake baby shake! Double strain into coupe and garnish with Asian Pear Slice.

Silver Gin, Silver Fizz. Just cause it’s chilly, doesn’t give us any excuses for not making a Silver Fizz! Ohhhh, what a Silver Fizz this is too! I wanted to add complexity to the Fizz formula and build on NOLET’S Silver’s already fabulous flavour profile. Enjoy!

NOLET’S Silver Fizz

1 3/4 oz NOLET’S Silver Gin
1 dash Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1 dash Barkeep Lavender Bitters
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Demerara Simple Syrup
Egg White
Club Soda

In tin, combine ingredients and dry shake until Egg White has emulsified. Add ice to tin and shake again. Add 1 oz Club Soda to Collins glass first, then ice on top of that. Double strain contents of tin into Collins glass, top with Club Soda. *This version of Soda first, Double Strain, Soda last will give you a nice foamy top to the Fizz. Cool baby, cool.

CHEERS!

Don’t you just wanna drink like a million of these? I do.

The Terroir Martini

2014-11-142014-11-14 / Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

I know we’ve talked about St. George Spirits but have we specifically talked about their Terroir Gin? This is the Gin that started it all. The Gin that got me hooked on Gin. The Gin that made me sob for 30 minutes in my Brooklyn apartment. You see, this Gin, THIS GIN, is from Marin, the Mt Tamalpias Gin. The botanicals in the Gin were selected on Mt Tam and when you open this bottle of Gin, you actually SMELL Marin County, California.

Mt Tamalpias, Marin County. Photo via Summit Post. Don’t you just want to die? I do. Prettttttty.

For me, it was just too much. Just too TOO much. I’d spent over 10 years living somewhere that wasn’t Marin County, California and smelling those smells brought my entire childhood back to me. I saw myself walking in the hills, going to Stinson Beach, running cross country, hiking, riding bicycles, going to high school, the whole thing.

I smelled the Eucalyptus, Bay Laurel, Sage, Pine, Grasses, Sunshine, Ocean air. And I cried. I’ve never cried after opening a bottle of Napa Valley or Calistoga Wine before, but I started crying as soon as I smelled this Gin.

Therefore, I consider St George Terroir to be sacred and as a sacred spirit, I add little to it. Often I drink it neat or on the rocks. Sometimes I have it as a Fizz with Mint Simple Syrup and Lime juice. On even rarer occasions, I make it into this martini.

It is the greatest and most complex Gin that I’ve ever tasted and with absolute reverence I present to you:

The Terroir Martini

2 1/2 oz St. George Terroir Gin
1/2 oz Pear Eau de Vie (a dry Pear Eau de Vie is best)
1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
Basil leaf garnish

In tin, combine Terroir Gin, Pear Eau de Vie and Dolin Dry over cracked ice and stir. Strain into chilled coupe, slap basil leaf between your hands and use as garnish.

Home Bar Girl

Just a grrrrrl making fabulous cocktails

martini

Bimini Gin: Sunshine in a Bottle

He Was A Sage Bro

Our Summer Martini: Melissa Martini

Drinking with Mad Men Season 7: the Martini

Sakura Martini

You’re So Kind: NOLET’S Silver Gin

The Terroir Martini

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