Two At The Most

I’m eagerly looking forward to this week’s Thursday Drink Night. Our sponsor is Beefeater Gin. I’m expecting there will be a lot of fun and interesting drinks invented based on this London dry gin, which is one of my favorites because it brings high quality at an affordable price.

San Martín Cocktail

To get into the spirit, I wanted to try a a new-to-me gin cocktail. I picked up my copy of David Wondrich’s Killer Cocktails, and happened upon the San Martín. Wondrich expanded upon the drink’s history in Esquire Magazine. He quotes from Charles H. Baker’s The South American Gentleman’s Companion, which will soon be reprinted by Mud Puddle Books.

Named after José de San Martín, this was a popular drink in South America at one point. What caught my eye is that it is a natural progression from the Martinez, one of my favorite cocktails (and one I will post about soon). Here yellow Chartreuse stands in for maraschino liqueur and orange bitters. And it’s a great change. There’s just a teaspoon, and I seriously thought about adding more when I first tasted it. But as I sip the cocktail, I find this is a case where more would have been too much of a good thing. There’s just enough for a hint of the herbal richness, while leaving this cocktail, already sweet with vermouth, a great apéritif.

San Martín Cocktail

2 oz London dry gin (Beefeater)
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 tsp Yellow Chartreuse

Stir ingredients over ice until suitably chilled, strain into cocktail glass, and garnish with lemon peel.

In Killer Cocktails, Wondrich calls for two ounces of gin and one ounce of vermouth. In the Esquire article, he keeps to a basic 3 ounce cocktail, but goes 1:1 on gin and vermouth.

In this case, I prefer the 2:1 gin:vermouth version. It makes the final drink a little drier, and gives more room for the yellow Chartreuse to work its magic.

Be sure to join us this Thursday (and every Thursday!) at the Mixoloseum bar for TDN Beefeater!

Related posts:

1. Celebrate the New Year with The Étourneau
2. Communist Cocktail
3. Bellringer Gin and the Bitter Apricot Cocktail
4. Right Gin and the Zummy Cocktail
5. Knickerbocker Cocktail, or You never know how much tart 1/2 lime will get you!