October's Cocktail of the Month - The Cornish Martini

There's something timeless about the Martini cocktail. It conjures up images of 1920s Italian elegance mixed with the freedom of pre-war New York. Drinking a Martini cocktail is like dancing the American Smooth dressed in the finest Italian couture!

Whilst the Martini pre-dates us all, it would be a mistake to think it's a recipe that's been fixed in time. Every decade brings changes, and every hotel adds its own little twists, but few have modified the Martini quite as much as the distillers at Cornwall's Southwestern distillery, who have added an aniseed kick to their new creation.

Setting new standards

As we've already seen, they take their gin very seriously in Cornwall. But it's not only the fruit of the juniper tree that gets them excited, it's the liquorice taste of aniseed that they've sought to capture in a UK first: Cornish Pastis.

Naturally, with these two fine spirits at their disposal, it didn't take long for the team at Southwestern to realise that they could reinvent the wheel ... or at least, they could reinvent the Martini!

It takes the easy style of a dry vermouth to combine the floral flavours of Tarquin's Cornish Gin and the robust aniseed of a Cornish Pastis, but have no doubt - it works!

Easy to mix and even easier to drink, the Cornish Martini is a taste that summons up the essence of fabulous times past. From the flamboyance of roaring New York to the elegance of Milan via the joie de vivre of 1950s Paris, there's something for every one in the Cornish Martini!

The Cornish Martini

50ml Tarquin's Cornish Gin
10 ml Dry Vermouth
Drop of Cornish Pastis

Pour all of the ingredients into an ice filled cocktail glass and stir. Pour through a strainer into a chilled Martini glass. Serve with a lemon twist.

Enjoy!

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