John CARR

A serendipitously very nice use of cassis! For lovers of more acidic fruity flavours this is great. With Rittenhouse I found it a bit unbalanced in favour of the rye . The idea of splitting the base with bourbon à la Fogerty no. 1 is very suggestive, or a lower potency rye. Would definitely have again.

Discovered via the book (under Fogerty, no number). A very nice use of cassis. For lovers of more acidic fruity flavours this is very nice. Would definitely have again. The idea of splitting the base with bourbon à la Fogerty no. 1 is very suggestive and tempting.

Just noticed that the book version calls for 10ml Crème de cassis?!? I’m confused, though it was very pleasant!!

Uh oh, looks like ‘someone’ got at the gin cabinet again! 😉

Dipping a toe into the drier end of the martini range (not that I haven’t been known to drink gin neat or gin & water). Ford’s gin. Halfsy on this occasion. Gave a good stir. Utterly drinkable and slipped down easily indeed. All the gin characters on show to very good effect.

Very rich, super mellow, buttery. Very elegant and refined, as one might expect from a French fruit liqueur. Très agréable!

Also be sure to serve in a Nick & Nora as it is important to concentrating the flavours here (I initially poured into a coupe; learn from my mistake 😋😂).

Needs plenty of dilution, especially if using Rittenhouse, as I was. Would be interesting to try with other and lower abv ryes. Was really enjoying the Woodford reserve recently, bottle now sadly finished. Hayman’s sloe gin.

Yeah same. I just use a good sized strip and get several goes at it. Realised I’d been shown an odd way to do it where you ‘flamed’ the strip first, then expressed. I like the express thru the flame method much better. More fun! And the orange seemed to suit much than lemon imo.

Remaking with more proper ingredients and Wow! Flavour bomb. A lot spicier than I expected. Wild Turkey 101 and Rittenhouse. Rich, boozy and indulgent as any good Manhattan should be. Would be interested to try with a less corny bourbon such as Elijah Craig.

Remaking with more proper ingredients and Wow! Flavour bomb. A lot spicier than I expected. Wild Turkey 101 and Rittenhouse. Rich, boozy and indulgent as any good Manhattan should be.

Interesting one. Definitely in the “vintage” mode with big flavours more or less competing I went with 4:2:3 ratio and was pretty happy, tho can see the call for a dash of orange bitters, if lemon oils not enough (depending on lemons). Dreamy. Improved on warming a little in the glass.

One for a picnic down by the river on a warm summer’s day, or a seaside luncheon. Much more savoury and appetite encouraging than the searing pristine alcohol-ness of a classic 5:1 dry martini ( which I also enjoy in turn). Bring on the antipasti and cool jazz 😘

Excellent description, thanks Chris. The blending of ingredients sounds absolutely delicious.

Purely in the interests of science, working through some of the martini ratios this evening - and with a fresh bottle of fords 😉. Working from drier to sweeter, naturally. As per previous comments, it’s almost like there’s a jump in sweet spot from ‘definitely dry’ to’ definitely wet’. Started at popular favourite 5:1 one dash orange bitters as per Simon ford’s preference, very definitely a boozy and classically dry martini, without being bone dry. 3:1 unhappy medium, 2:1 gin lacing the richness and sweetness of the vermouth. Almost creamy and reminiscent of a vermouth cocktail itself. All personal taste of course, and depending on the mood, season, weather, whether or not ww3 appears imminent… now to try the 1:1.

Reminiscent of a muscatel dessert wine. Intense and bittersweet, highly flavoursome and v delicious. Assuming you’re using Rittenhouse rye, the port will be the determining factor of the outcome, I appreciated the drying quality of the rye. This was on my Retry list and did not disappoint.

Did a nice version with 30 gin, 20 each Cherry Heering and Strega, one dash orange bitters and an orange twist garnish. A Italian-leaning take on this classic. Was very happy. A biscotti would also go nicely, or tiramisu.

Also good was a mash up version with 15 Each Rosso Antico vermouth, 10yo tawny port, Campari, dash orange bitters. The port’s body helped the fine aromatics and almost smokey tobacco notes of the vermouth to come out and play.

Swapped Punt e Mes bumped to 30 for the Cynar as it was fresher in stock and added a dash of BT aromatic bitters, truly taking it into Ginhattan ®️ territory. Or prob Martinez territory to be more accurate.

… and the Clapham version works even without the bitters - I think showing how well balanced Cherry Heering is in itself, helped by the drying effect of the double ratio of gin of course.

My first taste of the justifiably famous Naked & Famous. Brilliant. If it hadn’t been invented it would have to be discovered. Almost enough to tempt me away from a Last Word or Paper Plane…. almost 😉

Technical note that Xanthia would mean something like ‘yellowish/yellow-haired’ in Greek, so mr Clapham’s use of green Chartreuse could not be justified by self-respecting pedants 😉.

Also reminiscent of the more recently created St George’s negroni, which I believe this may have displaced in my fickle affections.

A new favourite negroni! This really made my cocktail evening. Created a couple of years after the Cornwall negroni and a definite improvement by evolution of it, in my opinion. Better balanced and integrated. Will definitely be having again.
Garnish instructions seem contradictory lemon vs orange flamed twist? I was half way through doing lemon when noticed the orange. Lemon non-flamed actually worked better with the Tanq 10 that I was using.