Douglas Fir Martini

This was one of our very early blog posts. Now that the holiday season is here it seems like a good time to revisit it. Our cocktail recipe remains unchanged, but we wanted to add some information about the ingredients and include a bit more artwork. This martini, with it’s pine forest aroma, is our antidote to holiday stress. Mix up a couple of these to help you through your decorating, gift-wrapping, etc… Doesn’t enjoying a cocktail while you relax in front of the fireplace sound much nicer than struggling to get the Christmas tree in the stand? Along with The Cocktail Artist's watercolors maybe we can give you the feeling you're walking through a pine forest instead of stressing out over some holiday preparations.

At the heart of this cocktail is Clear Creek Distillery’s Douglas Fir Brandy. We discovered this unusual liqueur in our local liquor store a couple of years ago and just couldn’t resist giving it a try. Clear Creek calls it “a tree in a bottle”. It's made in Oregon from springtime Douglas Fir buds infused with clear brandy. In addition to having the tasting notes of a fresh Christmas tree, this brandy has a bright green color (that’s derived naturally) - making it incredibly festive. 

For our cocktail, we bumped up the color (and the herbal notes) with the addition of Green Chartreuse. We’ve made this both as a gin martini and as a vodka martini. It’s a matter of personal preference, but either way we found that our local distillers (One Eight Distillery in Washington, DC) produce excellent spirits for this cocktail (Ivy City Gin or District Made Vodka). To balance it all out, and to give it real martini cred, we use a little blanc vermouth. 

This cocktail is fresh and dry - which is a nice contrast to many of those heavy and sweet holiday drinks. It also packs a bit of a punch (since it’s 100% alcohol) so sip slowly, hang a couple more ornaments, listen to a few Christmas tunes, take a look at The Cocktail Artist’s watercolors of fir trees in the wild, and enjoy the season.


Cheers!


Douglas Fir Martini

- 2 oz. vodka or gin
- 3/4 oz. green Chartreuse
- 1 oz. Douglas Fir liquor
- 1/2 oz. blanc vermouth

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake for 30 seconds.  Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a rosemary sprig (or a raspberry if it's Christmas and you want to be festive!)


Pouring the drink into a Schott Zwiesel cocktail glass
The Douglas Fir Martini

Clear Creek - original watercolor by The Cocktail Artist

Pine Forest - original watercolor by The Cocktail Artist


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