If you like to learn about cocktails, you have certainly learned that being familiar with all recipes of cocktails is practically impossible. You might ask “why”? The main reason is that there are many recipes which are known by extremely small groups or communities of people; and some cocktails are even known just by the people who created them. But the uncountable number of cocktails is not the only thing which we know for sure. Another fact known for sure is that martini is the most popular and loved cocktail of all times.
Actually, martini cocktails were the first to appear in the bars and clubs. Later, they were produced for throwing parties at private places such as birthday party, anniversary party etc. You’ve probably watched old movies (let’s say from 1990) where the man asks his guest whether he’d like to prepare “a large doze of martini”. The conclusion is that 20 years ago, people used to prepare martini in their homes. But nowadays, talking about martini cocktails is quite general as there are already dozens kinds of martinis. Usually, the criterion used for their division is the content/recipe and the fruits in particular. For example, different kinds of martini can contain lime, apple, pineapple, peach or even chocolate. So, you should not be surprised if you taste two completely different cocktails having one name: martini.
However, there is a group of martinis which has become quite popular recently. These are the martinis containing exotic fruit juices. For instance, that could be lime, pineapple, lychee and even raspberry. We are not going to discuss the lime and pineapple juices as they were just mentioned. But the lychee and raspberry fruits definitely need to get their fair share, especially when the surveys show that these two variations of martini cocktails have gained more popularity than any other cocktail (not only among the martini). It sounds like a huge success, doesn’t it?
Perhaps, it would be best if we started with the more exotic fruit: lychee! Here is some background about this amazing fruit: it was cultivated in China 4000 years ago but its Thailand is considered to be the country it originates from! Determining the taste of lychee is pretty difficult as the most accurate adjective would probably be “specific”. However, if we need to choose among bitter, sweet and sour; it’s somewhere in the middle between bitter and sour. Of course, the sour taste should not be a surprise to you if you know that lychee contains nearly as much vitamin C as the limes and lemons do!
And what could be said for the raspberries? They are definitely more familiar than the lychee as you can find raspberries growing almost in all European countries and most of the countries in the Americas. However, even if your country’s climate is not good for raspberries’ growing, you probably can find them in every shop. And we could not say the same about lychee, right? Basically, raspberries have a great taste although it is much more difficult than the taste of the lychee (and lime) which makes it quite a strange ingredient for a martini. Anyway, you can be sure that having tasted a “raspberry martini”, you’ll definitely want to drink a few more!
Looking for more great martini recipes and information? Check out Martini Guide for recipes for the tasty martini. We’ve got all kinds of great martini recipes.
categories: drink,food,beverage,cuisine,alcohol,martini,wine,spirits