I promised you fashion and Martini recipe's so lets start with the king of them all - The Vesper Martini
The first time I tasted this was about 3 in the morning in New York. It was love at first taste. Two investment bankers we met in Fanellis bar in Soho, one very unsavory, obviously married and desperate to get at my friend had been trying to get us drunk for hours. He kept ordering us large gin and tonics one after another, to the point the barman pointed it out to us, and asked us to tell him If we felt pressured ( where are these barmen in London). Little did he know we were Olympic standard G&T drinkers and that for both of us its the drink we can drink all night, get mischievously drunk on but no more. Hours and many $'s later as a last ditch attempt they invited us to have a drink in their hotel bar. They were staying in the Dreams hotel where the bar is amazing. There on the menu was a Vesper Martini, waiting for me. So that was the start of a beautiful friendship which unfortunately for them was not with two exasperated bankers. We left two Vespers later in a yellow taxi!!
3 Measures of Gin ( I like Tanqueray 10 for this)
1 Measure of Vodka
1/2 Measure of Kina Lillet (not really a vermouth, much nicer)
Lemon twist
Put all of the alcohol in a cocktail shaker with ice cubes, shake until the liquid is very cold. (The ice cools the liquid but also adds enough water as it melts to make the alcohol smoother)
Strain into a cold cocktail glass and add the lemon twist to the glass.
Its much nicer and smoother than you probably think, but it is strong so be careful and don't have too many.
Tomorrow I'm going to do some fashion, promise. I will also blog about the the night at the opera, the animal print maxi and the verbal fisticuffs with some drunken stag do haters.
Its short but at least its started!
