Are You Daring Enough To Try Something New?
Have you ever invented your own cocktail? Not that you’re a mixologist or a bartender. We’re talking about just messing around in your own home with whatever spirits you have around the house.
Periodically my wife and I mix up a martini at home – a vodka martini. Some say a martini must have gin and not vodka – but don’t tell James Bond fans that. So, we add a little vermouth and then whatever our favorite vodka is at the time. Rather than using a shaker, we like to stir our vodka, contrary to James Bond. Of course, our vodka is kept refrigerated. Sometimes we even keep it in the freezer – although some experts suggest not to freeze vodka. But we like it that way; when mixing for yourself, rules are made to be broken. It’s all a matter of preference.- We also prefer to have a small amount of crushed ice floating on top.
The Garnishes
Then, of course, garnishes are added. Traditionally drinkers add olives or a lemon twist to their martinis., Or cocktail onions to make it a Gibson. Some say the cocktail onions pair quite well with the vermouth. You can be adventurous and add both an olive and an onion – or several.
Great For Looks And Presentation
If you have a martini style glass it’s always nice to see the garnishes in the bottom of the cone of the glass. But don’t let it stop you if you have to put it in some other type of glassware. Just don’t imbibe too much of the vodka, or you’ll have to be awaken to be asked if you want a second. We like about 3 ounces at the most per drink.
So Why Cantaloupe?
So, why vary with an uncommon garnish like cantaloupe?. Could it be just a matter of preference? There’s more to it. We’ve experienced a vermouth issue here in the high desert. I’m sure most bars have had no trouble getting vermouth from their suppliers. Or they can buy from liquor stores or the big warehouse places such as Bevmo or Liquor Barn. And they might have a variety to choose – at a premium cost – because they need it for their patrons. They use quite a bit of it.
However, for personal use we’ve opted to buy less expensive brands and purchase at local supermarkets. And it’s not just because of the cost. Most recommendations for proper flavor are to consume the entire bottle within a month of opening. Our experience indicates we can go longer; but we don’t have the palate of a wine connoisseur. Some say it can go as long as 3 months if refrigerated. Technically vermouth is a wine that is fortified with alcohol and other added botanicals. Since we just add a very little for a dry martini – it’s hard to use it up in that time frame.
The Supermarket Dilemma
Sometimes the local grocery store has vermouth and sometimes it doesn’t. But what’s worse, people working in these stores have no idea what it is and how it’s used, even though they sell other alcoholic beverages. Some stores even stopped carrying vermouth. Or they mix up the dry and the sweet red vermouth that is commonly used for cooking.
Thus, the idea of no vermouth and very dry martini came about. In addition the thought of using melon types as a garnish soaking up the vodka occurred. Is it still a martini if it has no vermouth? Let’s not consider that argument – and just enjoy the drink. This isn’t something that will be litigated.
Oh, by the way, can it be considered a cocktail if it only has one alcoholic component? A common definition is as follows: A cocktail is any beverage that mixes one or more alcoholic drinks and other flavors. A cocktail usually has a liquor, like whiskey or tequila, or vodka and can include other flavored liquids and garnishes. So, by this definition, yes it’s a cocktail.
Our Choice
Our favorite dry martini (without vermouth) contains cantaloupe. If we’re lazy, we just cut the cantaloupe in cubes with a knife. To get fancy you can get a melon baller and put a melon ball on a toothpick in place of what would be an olive. A melon baller will cost anywhere from 5 to 20 dollars depending the quality you want. Many supermarkets carry them as well as Amazon.com We’ve given the drink a name: Cantaloupe Hope.
Probably the most difficult part of making this cocktail is choosing a good cantaloupe. There are a lot of articles on this and I’ve given you a link here to one here.
You can get carried away and try other melons for the drink. Just don’t get carried away too many times in one day, or you’ll have to be awaken to try another. Vodka can have that effect. If you’ve been there you already know.
The Poster
Without getting too deep, we’ll summarize what we have. Using my favorite design editor, Kittl, I set up a 2 by 3 formatted canvas for a large poster. I’ll skip the monitor HEX color codes, but describe their colors. For the background layer I wanted to transition from and orange at the top to a light green at the bottom.
Continuing down we reach the first text. which is in a circular transition. For “Cantaloupe and Hope” the typeface is Bungee at 160 and 130 point, respectively. A green border of 15.50 weight is used around the text. The bottom text ” Try One!” is same font at 130 point and also a 15.50 weight border, except the border is orange to contrast the green. You’ll notice all upper case is used.
The text in the banners is Amarante at 47 point and black. The banners are from the extensive graphics library of Kittl with a pinkish background. Also from the library is the confetti in the background. It was duplicated several times and spread around.
The martini glass picture is from the Pixabay website. It’s a PNG image from Tatiana7744 and used with Pixabay’s Content License. Once more I went to the graphics library and chose a circle and colored it as close to a cantaloupe orange as I could. I sized it large enough to cover the olive in the image, and then gave it a slight shadow blurred at 15. Basically, that’s the poster. Please comment if you have thoughts or questions. If you want to see the poster in my store, click on its image above.
By the way I do not have any affiliate relationship with any of the websites mentioned at this time. I do not receive any money by mentioning or using them.
Check out my featured posters here.
Hotcakes The Bear Cub Poster and children’s story
Ed Kenzer has a BS degree in Business Administration from California State University Northridge. He has been a Realtor, a mortgage banker, and for a trade was an ASE certified (and General Motors) master automobile technician. He is now a content creator with over seven decades of everyday experiences to share.