“I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.”
The Drinking Guide
Botanical Martini
The Raconteur with chamomile, white grape and a carefully diluted saline solution, stirred and finished with an olive.
Ingredients
45 ml Sammy Raconteur
10 ml cooled chamomile tea
10 ml unsweetened white grape juice
10 ml diluted saline working solution (see prep)
Glassware: Small angular martini glass
Ice: Cubed ice for stirring; no serving ice
Garnish: One green olive on a short pick
Method
Preparation
Chamomile tea: steep 1 g food-grade dried chamomile in 60 ml hot water, 30 ml hot water and 10 ml hot water for 4 minutes. Strain and cool. Saline stock: dissolve 0.6 g fine salt in 60 ml water. Saline working solution: mix 10 ml of that stock with 60 ml water and 30 ml water. Stir thoroughly and use only 10 ml of the working solution in the drink. Never use the saline stock at the serving measure. Make fresh for the session, refrigerate promptly and keep chilled until use.
Make the cocktail
1. Chill the glass and all liquid ingredients thoroughly.
2. Stir the measured ingredients with cubed ice for 8 seconds; the saline working solution already contributes water. Check dilution only during development.
3. Strain without ice into the chilled glass and add the olive.
