Gumdrop Martini

This was a complicated drink with difficult-to-handle garnishes. Why? Gumdrops have a mind of their own, and I didn't want them just sitting at the bottom of the glass, even though that is a perfectly good serving suggestion. The gumdrops do look beautiful on the edge of that sugar rim.

The 90's are responsible for funny ideas like the Gumdrop Martini, back when vodka drinks emulated candy and almost encouraged children to drink. (JollyBartender does not advocate for underage drinking.) It was the age of vodka and people's tastes were simpler then. Alcohol had to taste like candy to entice new drinkers. I know some people who have not evolved beyond this drinking trend. For this reason a 90's vintage bar manual will be full of vodka drinks with these kinds of flavors.

For this cocktail I made my own lemon flavored rum rather than use the Bacardi Limon that was common back in the 90's. This is a simple infusion of the zest of one lemon and four ounces of light rum. A ready-made alternative available in Virginia can be found in MurLarkey's lemon whiskey, which is made the same way but with a whiskey base. If you can get that, you'll also find that Divine Clarity is a suitable vodka at a decent price.

• 2 oz. lemon flavored rum (homemade infusion used)
• 1 oz. vodka (Divine Clarity used)
• 1/2 oz. Southern Comfort (Bird Dog peach whiskey used)
• 1/2 tsp. dry vermouth
• lemon slice
• gumdrops
• sugar

Rim a cocktail glass with sugar. Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the glass and garnish with a lemon slice and gumdrops.