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Strobist Info: Godox AD200 with a 26-inch octo-softbox camera left and slightly behind and above the subject. Small white V-flat directly camera right of the subject.
This is my batched martini, a regular go-to for me recently. The martini is an iconic drink, but also extremely personalized. My experience is that most martinis are lackluster and only those with made with a keen eye detail are truly great. In fact, I only make them using the batch method now for that extra control. Everyone has their favorite gin(s), but I've found Botanist gin hits the mark best for this cocktail. It mostly tastes like a classic London dry gin, but with a other few herbal notes. No particular botanical is dominating the others, and everything is pleasantly balanced. Because of this, I really feel like a drier spec is best, something in the neighborhood of 7-to-2 gin to vermouth. I add a meager dash of Scrappy's black lemon bitters for a tiny boost of piney lemony vibes.
The standard method of mixing a cocktail involves stirring or shaking the mixture over ice to achieve two goals: chilling and dilution. When we batch a cocktail, we divorce these into two separate actions. The chilling is simple, just shove the batch in the freezer. The alcohol prevents it from freezing. The dilution is achieved by adding plain water (filtered if your tap water sucks), but not too much. We want to keep the martini dry, but also that dilution can raise the freezing temperature above the temperature of your freezer. If done right, we are reward with a martini that is colder and drier than the standard method while servable at a moment's notice (keep your stemware in the freezer too). While below is my recipe, I do suggest tinkering with it to find your best possible martini experience.
Makes 2-3 servings (scale as needed)
7 oz (210 ml) Botanist Gin
2 oz (60 ml) dry vermouth
1 oz (30 ml) water (filtered if necessary)
1-2 dashes Scrappy's black lemon bitters (optional)
Combine all of the ingredients into a mixing vessel and then funnel the batch into a freezer-safe bottle and store in the freezer for 24 hours. Put some martini glasses in the freezer at this point too. When you want to serve, simply pour as much or as little as you want and garnish with a lemon peel twisted over the top and then discarded.
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