Employees Only Martinez

Employees Only Martinez
  • Yield:makes 1 cocktail
  • Active time:5 minutes
  • Total time:5 minutes
  • Rated: 4.0

[Photograph: Nick Caruana]

This is easily one of my all-time favorite cocktails. It's a variation on the classic as served at Employees Only in NYC, and it appears in the excellent Speakeasy book by Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric. Flavorwise, it's somewhere between a traditional Martinez and a Martini.

Note: Don't want to bother with making the absinthe bitters (the first step below)? The easy way out is still darn tasty: just rinse the glass with a generous amount of absinthe or Green Chartreuse, and leave the excess in the glass rather than pouring it out.

About the author: Nick Caruana is the author of The Straight Up, where he shares his love of classic and modern cocktails, including a slight obsession with whiskey, bitters and amari. Stalk him on Twitter @The_Straight_Up, Facebook, and other social media outlets.

Ingredients

  • For the Absinthe Bitters:
  • 3/4 cup absinthe
  • 1/8 cup Green Chartreuse
  • 1/4 teaspoon Angostura bitters
  • 1/4 teaspoon Peychaud's bitters
  • 1/2 tablespoon Fee Brothers Mint bitters
  • For each cocktail:
  • 2 1/2 ounces Beefeater 24 gin
  • 3/4 ounce Dolin Blanc Vermouth
  • 1/2 ounce Luxardo Maraschino
  • 1/4 ounce Absinthe Bitters (see note above)
  • Garnish: Lemon twist

Directions

  1. 1.

    For the absinthe bitters: Add absinthe, Green Chartreuse, Angostura, Peychaud's, and mint bitters to a resealable bottle and cap. Blend by inverting the bottle a few times. The bitters is ready to use immediately and will keep indefinitely at room temperature.

  2. 2.

    For each cocktail: Add the Beefeater 24 gin, Dolin Blanc, Luxardo Maraschino and absinthe bitters to a mixing glass. Fill 2/3 with ice and stir until well chilled, about 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with the lemon twist and serve.