This would be the end of my experimentation with the Malfy Gin from Italy. I was wondering how ginger would go with the lemon in the gin. While researching if anybody had tried this before, I came across an interesting blog by a husband (Andrew Purcell) and wife team (Carrie Purcell) from New York City – “Pictures and Pancakes”. (http://picturesandpancakes.blogspot.com/). He is the photographer and she is the food stylist. This gin and ginger cocktail here is adapted from their creation.

2 oz of Malfy, 1 oz of ginger liqueur and topped up with ginger ale.

Both Sharmila and I really liked how it came thru.

Continuing with the theme of trying out Malfy Gin, last Friday evening, I went for a Malfy Martini. To make it “perfect” and “dirty”, I went with equal amounts of the Gin and Dry Vermouth and a splash of olive brine with an olive garnish.

This drink usually has London Dry gin, sugar, lemon juice and champagne. However since Malfy Gin is overwhelming with lemon nose and flavor, I skipped the lemon juice. The make it an all Italian affair, I even went with a champagne from Italy (Martini and Rossi). Here is the irony though – the name of the drink is French 75!!! To do some justice to the “French” part of the name, I served it in a Dom Perignon flute.

The nose id predominantly lemon (the lemon peel garnish accentuates that). The juniper and botanicals come thru very late and the flavor of lemon is quite subdued by the champagne and the syrup. Very enjoyable drink.

Was thinking of what might be a good cocktail to make with the Malfy gin. Went with a variation of gin anise drink. 2 and a half ounce of Malfy with half an ounce of sweet vermouth and half an ounce of anisette liqueur. Shaken with crushed ice and then poured in a cocktail glass.

The aniseed smell dueled mightily with the lemon. For the initial few sips, the aniseed prevailed and after rolling it in the mouth a couple of times, the others – including the lemon and orange peels started to make their presence felt.

The finish was long and predictably with both the aniseed and lemon making a pronounced effect.

Next time, I might try with a tad less aniseed and see how the lemon performs if it is a given a little more chance.