I love to serve a special house drink! I'm very fond of seasonal recipes like eggnog at Christmas or a Champagne cocktail at Eastertime served alongside a fine spring lamb. It's fun though to have a drink that people associate with you and this martini is mine! Martinis can be made of many things but the constants are vodka or gin. You can add fresh fruit juices or liqueurs, brandies or vermouth. Martinis can have many garnishes, lemon twists, sugar rims or fancy cherries. I love to put semi sweet Hersheys kisses in my chocolate martinis and tiny candy canes on the rim of a red cocktail glass for a jazzy peppermint martini! Really, when it comes to this particular cocktail the sky is the limit!
My house martini is a version of a special Cleveland Ohio cocktail known as the Moxie Martini. Moxie's is a fabulous restaurant that is right around the corner from our home and we eat there frequently. The Moxie Martini is a straightforward combination of Vodka and Champagne , served icy cold in a cocktail glass. That's all , nothing more and it's a surprisingly refreshing if not a bit lethal drink! Two of these is definitely too many in my opinion and if you make them with really good ingredients you will be satisfied with just one.
I am a firm believer that one really great cocktail is infinitely more satisfying than three or four poor ones and too many drinks will really spoil the appetite of your guests. You definitely don’t want that to happen after you have spent the day creating the perfect meal and the perfect environment in which to serve it. One really fine drink serves as an aperitif to whet the palate for the delights to come. My house martini contains a bit of Pastis, that wonderful aniseed flavored liqueur From France. If you can’t find Pastis , you can use Pernod instead which is readily available and contains Star Anise and quite a bit of sugar. Either will be delicious!

This is another cocktail where the quality of the liqueurs that you use are of paramount importance. I use Chopin Vodka and Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut Champagne to create mine. I prefer to use a very dry champagne, nothing too yeasty or toasty. Generally , any of the Bruts or Ultra Bruts will work just fine.
Make sure that all of the ingredients are very well chilled. I keep my vodka in the freezer at all times so it’s the right temperature, syrupy and almost sweet. The Pastis or Pernod does not need to be cold and it will mix well at room temperature. I serve this drink in beautiful flute champagne glasses because I think that they are very elegant. The flute champagne is the tall champagne glass used primarily because it keeps the bubbly nature of the champagne happier longer!

This drink is very simple to make and it’s all in the proportions!

For one cocktail you will need;

A gorgeous flute champagne glass

One jigger of well chilled, very good quality vodka

One tablespoon of Pastis or Pernod

Well chilled, very dry Champagne to fill the glass

One lump (not cube) of brown sugar - These can generally be found at any specialty food store

Pour the vodka and Pastis over the sugar lump in the Champagne glass. Then fill the rest of the glass with the Champagne. You will see the whole drink begin to foam and turn a lovely milky shade. Then serve with pleasure. Your guests will be very surprised by the fresh taste of this delightful drink.