Bert Schouterden

During my travels in Vietnam, I asked for a different version in - as I remember correctly - in 2 Lam son bar in Saigon (Hyatt hotels).

As I am a afficionado of (dry)martinis, this version included both dry vermouth and Gin on my request and had the following mesures : 4 cl London Dry Gin, 2 cl Dry Vermouth ( I think it was Dolin), 1 cl Midori, 2 cl Cointreau, 1 cl Lime juice.

The Vermouth brought down the sweetness of the Midori and added depth, where the Gin added stiffness.

This is probably a totally different cocktail then a Japanese slipper, but I liked it !

I missed the keynote flavour at first sip, but noticed the drink gets more balanced after a few minutes. Probably due to the shaking instead of stirring. The amount of orange juice used does not necessarily require shaking imho. Going to try with the suggested Blue Curacao.

A Fino Sherry with a somewhat fruity afterkick. Nice !

I am an enthusiast for Roku Gin, but my latest bottle had something that I would describe as 'cork', as in wine. I've had a similar experience with Etsu Pacific Ocean Water Gin, and now I'm wondering if this is just a bad batch or if Gin can actually suffer from the same bacteria (I guess ?) that makes wine smell and taste like 'cork'. Once again : I ve had like 10 bottles of Roku Gin so I'm very familiar with the taste, but this is extremely different.