Pomegranate Martinis, Take One

So, my wife has been encouraging me to take on the pomegranate martini. I can't say as I've been necessarily resistant, but there's been one roadblock to this process: gin.

If you say "martini" to me, I will automatically start at the traditional gin-and-vermouth cocktail. Vodka martinis are excellent at best, but a cocktail that, however good it may be, is not part of the storied tradition of a martini. I don't want to come across as a martini snob: I've ordered very good vodka martinis, and don't even twitch if Julie wants to order a "chocotini" or whatever we're calling a vodka milkshake nowadays. Okay, maybe a bit of a snob, but I like words and terms to have definition, as well as definitions.

So, before I get to her martini next week, I'm doing one this week with gin. The usual bit of research came up with a wide variety of vodka recipes, but one basic recipe with gin, from Bobby Flay via the Food Network. It was as good a starting point as any, so we started by using his recipe and determined that it was tasty (more in a bit). The recipe calls for Tanqueray No. Ten, so the first step was to check the gin choice against a few of the usual suspects. None made for a bad drink; Beefeater was my least favorite of my tested options (slightly jarring in the mix). New Amsterdam, a popular and inexpensive gin option getting traction for a variety of uses, made for a very mellow blend of flavors, and I decided to use it for the balance of the testing. I also used my 6-year oude genever, because I had it and I could; it was very good, but impractical for recipes outside the Netherlands, so we set it aside reluctantly and pressed on.

As I said, the drink is tasty; to use the music metaphor I so enjoy, this recipe is a jazz trio - gin providing our percussive and bass notes as usual; the orange and lemon juice the hot saxophone line across the top of the piece, and the pomegranate syrup acting as a centering piano line. The problem to my palate with the drink as written is that the drink is one long saxophone solo. Consider: the basic recipe as given by Mr. Flay is 1.5 oz. of gin, 2 oz. of lemon/orange juice (and that's skimping the orange down a bit), and a half-ounce of pomegranate syrup (years of tiki drinks requires me to keep Monin pomegranate syrup handy).The drink ends up being something very vodka martini-ish, with the forward citrus flavors stomping around, barely letting the pomegranate - the namesake of the drink, you'll recall - any kind of space to be heard.

This Polka Dot Mini Z-Stem Martini
glass (5oz), is available on the 

Contemporary Complements

website.

So, our first task was to cut the citrus. Orange is a common ingredient in the variety of vodka martini recipes you will encounter, and for good reason. Orange juice adds sweetness and a familiar citrus buzz to the midrange wall of sound that pomegranate represents. So, we cut the orange juice back to a half-ounce, and dropped the lemon entirely. Unfortunately, we quickly discovered why the lemon is there: to mask the alcohol heat from the gin and add the high notes that orange just can't reach. But, a hit from a lemon wedge provides just enough flavor to take the edge off the gin, brighten the sound and let the pomegranate shine. Shaking it with ice cools it down (a good thing) and adds a little bit of water to activate the flavors (also a good thing). I knew I got it right when Julie tried it and said, "I'd drink that." From someone who does not like gin, I considered it high praise indeed.

Finally, to complete the circle, I used my recipe with the Tanqueray No. Ten from the original recipe, and I have to admit that I prefer it to the New Amsterdam in the drink. If you keep No. Ten around, I'd recommend it, but otherwise I'm very happy with the results that New Amsterdam will give you in this drink. Either way, the pomegranate gets a chance to shine at the front of the drink.

Pomegranate Martini (gin version)
1.5 oz. gin (New Amsterdam, or Tanqueray No. Ten)
.5 oz. orange juice (fresh, unsweetened)
.5 oz. pomegranate syrup
Juice from a small wedge of lemon

Combine ingredients (pomegranate last). Shake briefly with ice and strain into a martini glass.

Postscript: this subject may be the tipping point I needed to make my own pomegranate syrup and grenadine (trust me, Rose's is not used in my bar). I'm collecting recipes now, but if you'd like to weigh in (especially on hot-process vs. cold-process), I'd be eager to hear about it!