I'll get some extra ingredients this week so I can branch out better, but for now I'm stuck with a lot of gin and vermouth concoctions that are all similar to each other and not super tasty.
This regiment prefers, apparently, a wet martini with lemon rind. Gin to sweet vermouth in a 3 to 2 ratio, and Ensslin calls for two pieces of lemon rind.
This gets into one of my only complaints about Ensslin's book--garnish. I assume that the lemon rind is garnish, as it doesn't make any sense to shake up a drink with lemon rind and then strain it. At least, I don't think it makes sense. Maybe that was Hugo's plan. In any case, his instructions can be more than a bit ambiguous.
This is not a particularly good drink. The sweet vermouth is way too strong and I feel like it overpowers the gin handily. I thought that the lime in the polo cocktail helped smooth things out considerably, but the lemon rind is barely a participant in this drink. It makes my martini glass prettier (this is a lovely looking drink, to be sure) I can barely detect citrus.
This is not a bad mix, to be fair, and I'm sure I'm enjoying it more than I would enjoy gin and dry vermouth in a similar ratio. But, It feels only tolerable. Were I not trying to work my way through this book, I would have much rather had a gin and tonic. The 7th regiment is the sort of simple drink that does not stand up against simpler drinks, and for that reason, is not one I'll be making again anytime soon. It's not bad, just not memorable. Mostly, I just want to know more about this seventh regiment. Seventh regiment of what? And why are they drinking so many martinis?
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