Oh, how tasty a nice, chilly martini sounds, right about whenever. Especially when it’s made with fresh fruit…skip the smoothie and down an “eXpress” at the X Lounge! It’s not exactly vitamin-enriched, but it’s packing a healthy dose of courage (and I’m sure that the pomegranate juice does something good for you). Get some fresh summer berries to make yours—if you’ve got wineberries or blackberries in your yard, give those a shot in place of the raspberries. If you know you’re not going to take time out to make pre-drink purée, there’s much to be gained by people-watching from the Lounge’s second floor.
 Instead of being a smoothie operator, get cool with the X-Lounge’s eXpress Martini. |
There’s a lot of contention in the martini world: It’s now the age of the vodka martini, though connoisseurs revolted at its introduction, pointing out that the drink had been made with gin and vermouth for decades. Before that, they argued over how much vermouth should be added. One jigger. One handful of vermouth-coated ice. One drop, swirled around the glass. Alfred Hitchcock’s recipe was “five parts gin and a quick glance at a bottle of vermouth.” Honestly, I’ll take the fruity vodka version any day.
The X Lounge’s eXpress Martini
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 tsp sugar
2.5 oz. citron vodka
1 oz. pomegranate juice
splash of fresh lemon juice
lemon wedge
For the raspberry purée:
Put raspberries and sugar in a small pan, cover with water, and cook over medium heat. Stir frequently and press berries with the back of a spoon while bringing to a boil, then remove from heat and let cool.
For the martini:
Add purée, vodka, pomegranate juice and lemon juice to a martini shaker full of ice. Shake well, strain into a chilled martini glass and serve garnished with the lemon wedge.
