I very carefully planned my Christmas new things to be as low fuss as possible. If ever there was a time to have things as they always were, it’s Christmas, a time where we bring out cherished traditions from years gone past. This year more than ever I leaned on the little traditions that I’d built for my family over the years: homemade teacakes on Christmas Eve, Nigella’s yule log for Christmas dessert. All this is to say I wanted to find new things to do that would have the smallest impact on my carefully honed traditions. Christmas Eve, it was the debut of my clementine infused vodka from the beginning of the month in a classic martini.
I strained the vodka to remove any orange bits that were still hanging around and got to work mixing my martini using the Difford’s guide: 2 shots vodka to 1 shot dry vermouth (I went for Noilly Prat). I ran an orange slice around the rim and put an orange twist in to make it look a bit fancier!
I have to admit, I was a little underwhelmed. There was just the faintest hint of orange when first taking a sip and then it disappeared. Considering I’d infused the vodka for 3 or 4 weeks I was hoping for a stronger hit. I decided to jazz it up a little, inspired by an Anna Jones recipe for margaritas, and added a couple of drops of yuzu to the mix – it was instantly better. The citrussy yuzu elevated the orange flavour and it really rounded it off nicely. It was eventually a certified hit and possibly a new Christmas tradition!
New Day, New Thing 