Gin, stirred
Villa Straylight
Barline 2,1,h,1b,c
The code is the shorthand off my printed menu; the Key tab decodes every letter.
- 2 oz Gin
- 1 oz Dry vermouth
- 1/2 oz Orange liqueur
- 1 barspoon Absinthe
Stir with ice until cold, then strain.
Coupe.
Taste
Two ounces of gin to one of dry vermouth, the wet Martini on this menu, then a half ounce of orange liqueur as candied peel, and a barspoon of absinthe stirred in. The anise comes through over the orange. Stirred, coupe, no garnish. Wet gin, peel, and wormwood.
History
Villa Straylight is a house drink, and none of the pre-1970 manuals, Difford's, Punch, or Imbibe carries it. The name is the Tessier-Ashpool villa at the end of Freeside in William Gibson's 1984 Neuromancer. The build is this menu's wet Martini, two ounces of gin to one of dry vermouth, plus a half ounce of orange liqueur and a barspoon of absinthe in the mix. Harry Johnson's 1888 Martini already carried orange curaçao; the absinthe is the Tuxedo's anise, poured rather than rinsed. Coupe, no garnish.
Same shape, other bottles
The Martini family, with the bottle that changed.
- Dry Orange Martiniwithout absinthe
- Claridgewith apricot liqueur
- Wiffinsweet vermouth for dry vermouth
- Bensonhurstrye and maraschino liqueur for gin and orange liqueur
- Pedro Martinezaged rum and sweet vermouth for gin and dry vermouth
- Yacht Clublight rum and sweet vermouth for gin and dry vermouth
This is one drink on my home bar's menu. Tick the bottles you own and the menu lists which of all 185 drinks they pour.