Ultimate Brotini #1 – The Grilled Cheese Martini

For eight days, we’re hitting you with the bravest, most dude-worthy cocktails we can dig up. Some of these you can make yourself, and at least one is only found at a posh bar in a Manhattan cheese shop, and only by request. You’re bound to be inspired to down some brave spirits, and you’ll certainly rethink the idea of a martini.

We enthusiastically reviewed Bakon Vodka some time ago. Get over it! Vodka infused with fruit and meat flavors like bacon aren’t so out of the ordinary now. But what about grilled cheese? Is that bringing to mind visions of oily, soaked, soggy, and bloated grilled cheese sandwiches floating in a bath of cold Russian naughty water? How bad can it be?

Well, there’s one martini that incorporates a common taste that only a brave man would drink instead of eat. Gentleman, meet the Grilled Cheese Martini. The recipe isn’t so accessible. The grilled cheese vodka martini was born behind a bar one fine day at a Manhattan cheese shop called Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. It’s not on the menu, per the owner’s wishes. He prefers that his brand be known for their fine cheeses and not a drink that’s a gimmick. But anyone must admit… what a neat idea. The cocktail is available only by advance request. His Seattle location of the cheese biz is also debuting the cocktail now.

So what’s the final product made from? Try ten bottles of vodka and six freshly made grilled cheese sandwiches. The sandwiches soak in their vodka bath over night. The vodka-logged sandwiches are then pressed (to release the alcohol soaked up by the bread) and the vodka gets strained. The mixture is then refrozen, and the detritus skimmed from the top. A little bit of cherry tomato is muddled in with some basil to enhance the taste. The edge of the glass is dipped into a balsamic vinegar reduction and then into some crushed and crisped Serrano ham.

If you’re feeling hungry as well as thirsty at the same time, then by golly, they’ve done their job. How? Because before you even raise your lips to the glass, this martini sits there in a cold glass on the bar as an exercise in expectations… and for some dudes it’s about the machismo an eleven year old boy would exercise while playing suicide at the drinking fountain. Bottoms up, dickhead! Bobby’s around the corner mixing pepper and mustard together.