I’ll admit it, sometimes I like to pretend I’m a secret agent on Her Majesty’s Secret Service. (Not that guy, he’s too rough and tumble these days, I’m a classier gent.) When these flights of fancy take me, I like to drink something a little bit classier, something that they’d drink in Monaco at the Monte Carlo. Do you know what I picture? I picture the Casino cocktail.

I really don’t think it’s that much of a stretch to figure that they’re drinking a Casino in a casino. It’s like doubling up on your chocolate (or tripling up on it, like the Extreme Chocolate Martini, why be subtle?). When one is good, two is almost always better.

The Casino is a classic cocktail that’s gin based. Translation: all of you out there who don’t like gin, this might not be the one for you. There’s nothing for the gin to hide behind here, it’s all about bringing out the gin-ness.

Beyond just the gin itself, there’s some lemon juice, maraschino liqueur and orange bitters. It’s an exercise in simplicity.

With the Casino, I rather fancy stirring it as opposed to shaking it. I know that most people say, “Hey man, if there’s some sort of juice in there, you better shake the crap out of that.” Yeah, I’ll grant you that you can indeed do that if you want to go crazy. For me though, if we accept that you’re in Monaco, at the Monte Carlo, wearing a fancy suit, you don’t want someone beating up your cocktail. You want them to treat it with respect, the respect you get from stirring it.

This also means that when you use your fresh squeezed lemon juice (there’s no other kind), you’re going to get to admire the bits of lemon in there. Yes, you get to admire actual lemon!

Ah, one other note for all of you out there who might think, “That’s a whole lot of booze there.” You bet it is. See, these classic cocktails, they were originally built with classic cocktail glasses in mind (read: small). Our modern glasses, they’re bigger. Which means, you lucky devil you, you get more to drink!

This really is a golden, magical age my friends.

Now, let’s get to some Casino cocktail action!

Casino