Not Your Garden Variety Martini

I’ve been making a lot of chimichurri lately—wow, is this stuff magic on grilled flank steak, steamed beans, corn on the cob, bread, just about anything—which means there’s been a lot of cilantro in the kitchen. When the r.s.v.p. column in Bon Appetit’s June issue highlighted this cilantro martini from The Modern in New York, it seemed like the perfect way to use a leftover half bunch of cilantro. (Seriously, those bunches never look as big in the store, and I swear it must expand in the fridge, just laughing at my lack of imagination and ability to judge volume.)

If you don’t like cilantro or gin martinis, this isn’t the drink for you. For the rest of us, it’s an intriguing change of pace. But don’t go into it thinking this is a light, herbal sipper—we’re still talking about 3 ounces of nearly straight gin here.

The Modern’s Cilantro Martini
from Bon Appetit, June 2013

2 Tbsp. sugar
1 750ml bottle gin (Bon App recommends Tanqueray)
3 cups fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
¼ cup fresh lime juice

Combine sugar and 2 Tbsp. hot water in a large jar, cover, and shake until sugar is dissolved. Add gin, cilantro, and lime juice. (Hang onto the gin bottle to store the final product.) Cover and chill 2 days. Strain into a bowl or large measuring cup; discard cilantro. Pour mixture back into the gin bottle, but for heaven’s sake think more clearly than I did and don’t blindly pour ALL of it into the funnel—physics and common sense should tell you it won’t all fit after you’ve added the sugar and extra liquid. Store chilled for up to a month. Makes 8 servings.

To serve: Pour 3 ounces of the infused gin into an ice-filled shaker and shake until well chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into a martini glass, and garnish with a lime twist or round.