cocktail review no. 4 - Gorky Park

Turns out that this cocktail is actually named for a real place: a theme park in Moscow. There was some kind of hair band with that name too, but I don't give a darn.

The recipe first, and then the rigmarole.

• 1½ ounces vodka
• ½ ounce cherry brandy
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 maraschino cherry

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the vodka, cherry brandy and lemon juice. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with the cherry.

Two words: woman's drink. I might've mentioned before that some of the drinks I've made (particularly ones involving vodka, which is essentially tasteless in my book, and fruit juices, which then naturally overwhelm said tasteless vodka) usually wind up tasting like fruit juice. This drink, in fact, is highly analogous to pink lemonade. It makes for mighty smooth sipping, sure, and the taste ain't bad at all. But I couldn't shake the feeling that my manhood and alcoholic discretion were being drained insidiously away as I imbibed it. Maybe that was just stupid artificial socially-constructed societal pressure talking...