I didn't have my usual cocktail- the Smoking Gun. That drink is a gin and tonic with Lillet Blanc (a dry white wine aged with fruit liqueur). It's amazing and simple. The wine and gin/tonic sit on different planes on your tongue, allowing you to taste them independent of each other. It adds even more depth to a gin and tonic, which can be rich and delicious on its own when made with high end ingredients.
Pour an ounce and a half of gin over ice, add about a half ounce of Lillet Blanc, and fill with tonic. Add a wedge of lemon or lime if you choose, but I prefer the drink without it.
Finally (I guess this explains why I came home drunk so early), I had a martini made with Potrero Distillery (a.k.a. Anchorsteam Brewery)'s Junipero Gin and dry sherry instead of dry vermouth. What a simple and wonderful drink! I think the reason people want a regular martini (especially a vodka martini) so "dry" or with a lot of olives is because the aftertaste of vermouth is horrid. Vermouth seems to mellow out the some of the harshness of vodka or gin on the palette but takes its revenge on the drink’s memory. I hate dirty martinis but even I'd prefer one briny with too many olives to one with too much vermouth. Anyway, the sherry in this martini has the same effect as the vermouth on the flavor but leaves you with the memory of something richer and statelier.
Maker's Mark. This bourbon in on the menu in more and more spots, in specialty cocktails such as the Slow Club's Presbyterian (with soda and ginger ale) or fantastic Honey Kiss (with honey-vanilla simple syrup, Cointreau, and lemon). People are also specifying a "Maker's Mark Manhattan." It seems more women are ordering this drink than before. One acquaintance told me it was the "next cosmopolitan."
I decided to go seasonal and started with the spiced pumpkin martini. It was made with Skye vodka, Captain Morgan's spiced rum, and muddled pumpkin, served in a martini glass with a sugared rim. It was quite tasty, and served with a side of pumpkin seeds. The muddled pumpkin gives the drink a creamy character which is good, though by the end of the drink I was ready to move on.
Finally, I had a drink called something like (I really need to write these things down) the Ice Melt martini. It's vodka with ice wine (( īs ' wīn ' ) n. A sweet wine made from grapes that have been left to freeze on the vines) and a few other flavors. Also delicious, as you taste the sweet flavor from the wine after that of the vodka. The ice wine mostly sits at the bottom of the glass, so the drink becomes sweeter as you finish it. All the specialty drinks at the Four Seasons are served with a little side of something. This one came with frozen grapes to snack on.
I next tried the Chai Rum Elixir ($9), and it is fantastic. It's made with chai tea, Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum, and a little bit of cream. (I bought some chai tea on my way home to try to replicate this drink, but couldn't find any cream. It's all half and half these days.) The drink tastes like light eggnog, or as someone who tried mine said, a spiked horchata.
