Firewater Friday - Moontini

I love a good martini.  I'm talking a real, honest-to-goodness martini.  Not one of those floofy cocktails that bars are trying to pawn off as martinis.  

A classic martini is made with a whisper of vermouth and a healthy pour of chilled gin or vodka.  Shaken or stirred - I like mine shake shake shaken, senora.  Served with a garnish of a lemon twist, cocktail onions or - my personal favorite - olives (preferably stuffed with sundried tomatoes, garlic or oh-my-goodness blue cheese).  If I'm feeling particularly spunky I might even throw in a pepperoncini.  

Yup, that's the way I like it.

_____________________

The other day I walked into a liquor store and there stood Jeff Conelius from Onyx Spirits offering samples of - **gasp** - moonshine.  

            Moonshine

 Free Samples

                                           Oh, hell yeah!

So, there I stood with a big, goofy grin on my face accepting a taste of Onyx Moonshine while Jeff explained its characteristics, nuances and attributes.  

It's actually quite interesting. It has a subtle whiskey like aroma.  The flavor is quite unique.  It has some of the taste profile of a good whiskey but way down low mellow.  It also has some of the qualities of a good vodka.  It goes down easy - no burn and barely a bite.  Easy enough to drink straight up or on the rocks and tasty enough to rock your favorite cocktail.

_____________________

The other day I had a bad day.  You know, one of those days where everything is crazy insane and there's a global conspiracy to irritate the bajoopies out of you.  I had one of those days.  By the time I get home from work and I had had enough.  I needed to wind down and relax.

I was thinking a martini would hit the spot.  Then I remembered that I had bought a bottle of Onyx Moonshine from Jeff.  So, I decided to try something different - a moontini.  If it was bad then that would just be the cherry on the top of my crappy day, now wouldn't it?  But if it was good . . . mmmm.

Here's how I make a nice dry martini and I make a kickin' martini!

You'll need a chilled martini glass and a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  

Fill the glass 3/4 full of gin or vodka - or Onyx Moonshine, in this case.  

Pour the our the gin or vodka or moonshine into the cocktail shaker.  Set a side.

Pour 2 or 3 drops of dry vermouth into the cocktail glass.  Swirl it around the inside of the glass and dump it out.  You don't want the martini to be overpowered by vermouth - just the slightest taste.

Skewer olives onto a toothpick and place into the martini glass.

Now turn your attention back to the cocktail shaker.  Cover it and shake, shake, shake vigorously.  Then strain the icy cold liquid awesomeness into the glass over the olives.

Cheers!  Enjoy!

How did I like my moontini?  Good.  It's different, for sure.  But, definitely, good.   

I felt a little like Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce  from M*A*S*H* sipping a martini from his homemade still while lounging on his cot reading a copy of Nudist Monthly - sans the dirty magazine.