As much as I enjoy a fine whiskey, it’s not my go to drink. Good whiskey should be sipped, in small quantities, and sometimes with dessert. Bad whiskey should be ignored. Life’s just too short for lousy drinks.
Despite the title, I’m not particular about whether my martinis are shaken or stirred. I own a martini shaker, but for expediency (which happens when you make your drink after you’re done cooking and have to worry about defending your food from the kitten), I rarely use it, so stirred is my default. I always make martinis on the rocks. In fact, I rarely use ice cubes for anything else; I don’t like diluting juices.
And I always make martinis with gin. I don’t particularly like vodka (though Whiskey Acres does have delightful sipping vodka), and have never seen the appeal of vodka martinis. What has changed in recent years is the variety of gins I’m trying in my martinis. It started a few years ago when my ex-husband discovered a North Shore Distillery gin. That has an amazingly distinctive flavor, and is probably sippable on its own if you’re so inclined.
Now I make an effort to try different gins, rather than making the same martini every time. Two Brothers, a local brewing company, recently expanded their selection to include spirits, so I’ve tried theirs. I have some regrets about not picking up a Journeyman Distillery gin while I was in Michigan, but I should be able to pick it up at Binny’s. Some days, I pick my gin based on the bottle design; on others, I take the time to put on my glasses and read the descriptions. The current bottle is from Vikre Distillery in Minnesota; the Boreal Cedar Gin is described as “… infused with the smoky aroma of cedar wood, citrusy wild sumac, and a trace of black currant.” It was actually a tough choice between their cedar, juniper, and spruce gins, and I may have to try the others at some point.
Life’s also too short for boring drinks.