Pencils and Pop Culture: Martinis with a Dash of Blackwing

Pencils and Pop Culture: Martinis with a Dash of Blackwing

It’s the cocktail of Bond, James Bond, and swell sophisticates everywhere. The signature glass, with its slender stem and geometrically simple bowl, make it as fun to look at as it is to drink. While debates over ingredients and proportions have raged for years, it’s hard to find a classier cocktail than the martini.

And it’s about to get Blackwinged.

An article in the January edition of the New Scientist solicited advice on creating the ideal martini from academic experts across Great Britain. The consensus was that the ideal martini was indeed stirred, not shaken, and that a thin wooden spoon was preferable to a metal one. The metal, they theorized, conducted heat too efficiently and could potentially warm the martini if the stirring was too vigorous.

What to use if you do not possess a long wooden spoon? Why a pencil, of course.

One reader wrote, “‘If you don’t have a bar spoon, try a pencil, which has less surface area, less mass, a lower specific heat and will therefore conduct less heat from the hand.’

As I am a fan of martinis, James Bond movies, and pencils, this was cause for a great deal of excitement, and an equal amount of thought. After all, the Oscars are this weekend, and I am currently putting together a menu for my family’s annual Academy Awards fete. How fun would it be to create a serve a cocktail that acknowledged both my love of movies and my newfound passion for pencils?

Enter the Blackwing 602 and Palomino Blackwing martinis. While the basic premises are the same for each recipe, each martini is designed to acknowledge the aesthetic traits that make Blackwing pencils so unique. Remember when stirring these martinis to use your pencils and go gently but briskly – half the pressure, twice the speed always applies when using a Blackwing, be it for writing, drawing or stirring. For my purposes (and I realize to martini purists this is a grave failing, mea culpa), the below hints are offered for vodka, not gin, martinis. It’s what James Bond would do.

For the Palomino Blackwing, a premium black-label vodka delivers a smooth finish and nods to the pencils matte black finish. A cocktail onion skewered on a cedar toothpick harkens back to the white eraser and cedar casing of the pencil. When making a Blackwing 602 martini, I have to go with Grey Goose vodka for the slightly metallic grey body of the pencil, and a black olive on a cedar toothpick for the perfect finish.

A lemon twist would make a fabulous garnish for either beverage; not only is it a traditional martini garnish, but it echoes the gold ferrule of both Blackwings as well. In both recipes, you have to chill the glasses well before serving – after all, a drink this cool is going to need a cold glass. The amount of vermouth you use will depend on taste – just a whisper of it works for me. And if you add a little olive brine to make it dirty, never fear – Blackwing pencils and martinis are known to clean up nice and easy.

Raise your glasses, Studio 602ers, and tell us about your favorite cocktails, and bonus points if you can guess Ann’s favorite James Bond actor in the process. Toast away in the comments!

Photo Credit: obr sandro/Stock.Xchng