Rose’s Lime » The Red Shaker

Genius: One part Inspiration, The Rest-Vodka

May 272011

Shaker One here. The other day as I ran through the market to grab dinner ingredients a small basket of the blackest shiniest berries drew me to them with their siren call. Not knowing what I’d do with them was irrelevant. I had to have them.

Into the fridge they went and I didn’t give them another thought. Until later that evening I had a Eureka moment. A martini recipe literally popped into my head:

The Blackberry Lime Martini

Blackberry Lime Martini

Muddled fresh blackberries, simple syrup, equal parts fresh lime juice and Rose’s lime, a dash of lemon, the Super Secret Ingredient and of course-vodka. This poured out into the glass with a lovely shade of inky purple/pink.

Wow. One taste and I was hooked. I sent up the Shaker Signal to Shaker Two to run up and grab a taste. The verdict? At least a 4 1/2 olives. Yum~ Slightly sweet, slightly tart, a perfect balance. This one is good.

I’d pat myself on the back, but I’m too busy mixing up another round. Put this one on your summer drink to do list. You won’t regret it.

Size (Or Rather Shaker) Does Matter

martini, tips No Responses »

May 202011

If you haven’t noticed, Shaker One has been on a bit of a flip kick of late. Something about Spring makes the foamy lightness enticing to me. I’m finding myself taking all sorts of “regular” cocktails and flipping them. Since I’ve already had my failed experiment with Mr. Frothee, I’ve decided to stick with egg whites. I am finding a big difference in the head that results from a regular shaker vs. a Boston style shaker.

Tonight’s victim? A classic Vodka Gimlet. <Forgive me Raymond Chandler>

Wanting just a light cocktail to end the weekend, I threw the usual suspects into my regular shaker, added ice, one egg white, and gave the whole thing a shaking like I was trying to force a confession out of it. Vigorous though my efforts were, when I poured it out into the glass, it was only moderately foamy. Huh. Now, I usually use a Boston style shaker for all things flip. Tonight I just happened to grab the shaker in front in the bar. I suspect that the extra room in a Boston shaker allows more movement of the ice and liquids, resulting in increased foam volume. I shall need to do some further research to back up this theory.

The cocktail itself was quite enjoyable, despite it’s pittance of foam. At the last minute (and after the photo) I shook just a dash of bitters onto it……very nice! It added a good balance to the tart sweetness of the Rose’s Lime. Tough to beat a classic gimlet.

Next up in the exploration of all drinks flip~ Meringue: Breaks Down or Holds Up?