Bonsai Martini
3 oz Berkshire Mountain Distillers Graylock Gin
1/2 oz Dewatsuru Sakura Emaki
2 dashes Rose Water
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled Cocktail glass. Garnish with some sort of non-toxic flower.
As a polar companion to the Cobra Kai Mai Tai, I present the simpler, more elegant Bonzai Martini. This is yet another concept drink for the Cobra Kai marathon I’m hosting for a few friends who don’t have YouTube Red.
To capture the “flavor” of a Bonsai Tree I wanted to use a highly botanical but not overpowering gin, so, in this case, I used Berkshire Mountain’s floral and dry Greylock Gin. I kept the ratios to a Martini acceptable 6 parts to 1, but instead of Vermouth I used a nice Sake. The floral aspect to capture a Bonsai in bloom was heightened with some Rose Water and a pretty garnish.
When I first planned this I was hoping to sneak down to Benefit St. to pick some Cherry Blossom flowers from the trees but I guess it’s past their time to bloom. I ended up getting some dried flowers which are also quite nice and make decent garnish. I wanted to use real flowers over synthetic ones as Cherry Blossom flowers are quite edible, nicely fragrant and would seem to float better than a cloth, silk, or plastic that gods know how it could affect the drink.
It took a bit to find the right Sake for this. As a substitute for Vermouth I wanted to find one with plenty of flavor, floral if possible, but not overly sweet. I went with Dewatsuru Sakura Emaki for it’s added aroma of Plum and Cherry Blossoms with a mild sweetness. It was exactly what I was looking for.
