Cocktail No 18 Vodka Gibson

Essentially the same ingredients as the previous Vodkatini, but such a different taste. Many are put off by the high alcoholic strenght of the Vodkatini with good reason - is essentially 2 shots of Vodka diluted with a capfull of Vermouth, a drop of oil from the lemon peel and whatever water comes from ice melting in the shaking step.

Its a bit of a surprise as well as I usually make my Martinis to this ratio so turns out I have been making Gibsons instead.

The Gibson (originally gin based) dates back to 1908. It uses a higher proportion of Dry Vermouth to the Vodka making for a more mellow taste. It does not have the purity of taste of the Vodkatini. The absense of citrus is very obvious - its worth trying the 2 in parallel just to see what an impact a twist of lemon peel can make.

The Vermouth is much more apparent, but it comes through as more an extra sweetness then herbals, which is a surprise as there is 10-20x the amount compared to the 'tini.

And don't miss out the onions; whoever thought to add mini picked onions to vodka was inspired. I am struggling to describe it, but the combination of sweet onion with the residue of acid vinegar with the alcohol is - well wonderful - try it and let me know what you think. I can see canapés of pickled pearl onions frozen in tiny volumes of Vodka Gibsons.

Recipe

Add three measures of Vodka with 1 measure of dry vermouth to a mixing glass or shaker. Mix with ice until very chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and decorate with three pearl onions. Serve with a cocktail stick.

Eat the Onions whilst you are drinking the Gibson.