I did want to note the updated “Perfect Martini” recipe from Jim Coudal at Coudal Partners. I’m impressed with the seriousness of intent expressed in the recipe, and the background material about the changes in Nolly Prat is interesting. (Nolly Prat is our preferred vermouth, but we’ve been looking for others, and will have to give the Dollin a try.)
However, I am automatically skeptical of any “perfect martini” recipe that calls for vodka. While I allow room in my universe for the vodka martini, I do so reluctantly; the “perfect martini” should be gin-based. (I am especially skeptical when the recipe refers to a specific brand of vodka. Vodka, by definition, is a neutral grain spirit, so what the author is really saying is “I prefer the impurities in Belvedere Vodka to those in other vodkas.”)
Coudal’s “Friday Drink Links” looks like a good cache of stuff to browse, though.
(Hattip: Daring Fireball.)
And among the things Santa brought me was a copy of The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto