Continuing with the pineapple theme, I bring you the French Martini from Delicious Everyday (click here). I discovered there is more than one French Martini recipe. The original French Martini recipe, created by Chambord, is included on the Delicious Everyday site as well. Of course, being a good scientist, I was compelled to make both, for comparison’s sake.
For the first version (or variation of the “original”), add 1 oz. vanilla vodka, 1 oz. Chambord, and 1 ½ oz. pineapple juice to an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain into a martini glass. You will note a frothiness – this is the pineapple juice that becomes frothy when shaken.
While one might associate pineapple juice with a tropical drink, but this is certainly not your typical tropical beverage. If you didn’t know, Chambord is a black raspberry liqueur. It blends deliciously when mixed with the vanilla and pineapple. Nothing overpowers the flavor of this drink, it is well-balanced and smooth – delicate but not dainty. I’d gladly make another.
Rather than follow the original recipe, I mixed the second French martini in the same fashion, with the same proportions, just substituting plain vodka in for the vanilla variety. This meant using less vodka and pineapple juice and a little more Chambord than the original recipe calls for – but I did like the first mixture so well and wanted to do a fair comparison. The flavor of alcohol is much more apparent, even when using a good quality vodka. It was good, just more abrupt. This just didn’t have the same delightful mixture of flavors. (Next time I will mix the true original French Martini to see if it is any different.)
In the meantime, I invite you to recreate my experiment in your home and chime in with your results…or just take my advice and make two of the French Martinis with vanilla vodka. Cheers!
foreverxxxix 