Apple and Thyme Martini

The exact origin of the Martini is unclear however the most likely explanation is that it was simply a shortening of the main ingredient, Martini branded vermouth. One popular alternative suggests it evolved from a cocktail called the Martinez served at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco in 1862, which people frequented before taking an evening ferry to the nearby town of Martinez. Another theory links the origin of the Martini to the name of a bartender who concocted the drink at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City in 1911.

The original Martinez cocktail consisted of two ounces of Italian Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth, one ounce Old Tom sweet gin, two dashes maraschino liquor, one dash bitters, shaken, and served with a twist of lemon.By the end of the 19th century, the martini had morphed into a simpler form: two dashes of Orange bitters, mixed with half a jigger of dry French vermouth and half a jigger of dry English gin, stirred and served with an olive.

But it was Prohibition and the relative ease of illegal gin manufacture that led to the martini's rise as the predominant cocktail of the mid 20th century. With the repeal of Prohibition, and the ready availability of quality gin, the drink became progressively dryer. In the 1970s and 80s, the martini came to be seen as old-fashioned and was replaced by more intricate cocktails and wine spritzers, but the mid-1990s saw a resurgence in the drink and an explosion of new versions.

Some of the newer versions (e.g., appletini, peach martini, chocolate martini), take their name not from the ingredients, but from the cocktail glass they share with the martini.

If you have read al that information you will see in giada's recipe there is only vodka. So it's a very modern take on Martini with even a pinch of thyme, this is where the homemade thyme syrup that i posted earlier this week comes in.
After taking my first sip of it , i almost spit it out because the vodka was to strong for me. I had to ad some more apple juice to make it drinkable. Then the taste was fine i liked the Thyme in it but my boyfriend(from now i will reference to him with Mr. R)totaly didn't. I would chance the amount of vodka and applejuice to use in this recipe with each other the next time.

Recipe can be found here
Courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis


serves: 4
Ingredients
Ice
10 ounces vodka
6 ounces apple juice
1/4 cup thyme syrup, recipe posted earlier on my site
1 large apple, peeled
4 fresh thyme sprigs

Directions
Special equipment: melon baller

Chill the martini glasses.

Fill the shaker with ice. Combine the vodka, apple juice, and thyme syrup in a martini shaker. Shake for about 10 seconds. Divide between the 4 chilled martini glasses.

Use the melon baller to scoop out small balls of apple. Place 3 balls of apple and 1 sprig of thyme in each glass for garnish. Serve immediately.




Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_(cocktail)