The Rosecot Martini

  Posted on October 25, 2011  by Leslie Blythe  1 comment

To quote the good folks at the Cocktail Chronicles, “Apricot brandy takes on strange and intriguing new characteristics when you use it in small doses against something herbal.” Well, my husband must have taken this to heart when he offered to make me a cocktail and then heads out the back door….  Uh, honey, the liquor cabinet is inside?  He returned shortly with a bunch of rosemary, a lemon and a determined look on his face.  Digging deep into the liquor cabinet, he brought out a bottle of apricot brandy (where did that come from?) and then headed for the kitchen cabinet where I keep nuts, spices and things like that.  At this point I left the scene and waited for the drink to come to me.  What emerged was really rather good—an apricot martini (made with vodka) which was infused with rosemary and garnished with a dried apricot pierced with a sprig of rosemary.  A splash of apricot brandy was used instead of vermouth, a squeeze of lemon juice for some acidity to balance the sweetness, a slug of vodka and then a sprig of rosemary is thrown into the shaker with the ice, which macerates it and releases the flavor into the drink.  Fall is a good time to introduce rich, fruity flavors into one’s food and drink and this drink is a good example of a medium-dry cocktail that invokes the fully ripened fruit of harvest time with the herbal goodness of rosemary.

The Rosecot Martini

6/10    Vodka
2/10    Apricot Brandy
2/10    Lemon Juice

Pour all ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker with a sprig (or two) of fresh rosemary.  Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a two inch sprig of rosemary stuck into a dried apricot.  Strip off the bottom inch of the rosemary needles and keep a sharp edge to help pierce the apricot.