The Martian

I was originally going to cover the Martian, a very simple cocktail that involves only two ingredients, and leave a Green Lantern reference up to Rachel, who had some really interesting thoughts on Hope (blue) and Will (green) - two colors very relevant to the Lantern Corps.  But when Rachel decided to follow up on her disappointment with last week's Lois-Lane-themed cocktail and find something more appropriate for the character, I decided to re-strategize and find a better way to link our two cocktail interests this week. And so, in keeping with the spirit of alliterative references, I have decided to honor J'onn J'onzz, the last living Green Martian, with a cocktail aptly named... well... The Martian:

• Two parts Gin
• One part Midori (melon liqueur)
• (My random addition: A little bit of lime juice.)

But my feelings about the Green Lantern angle lingered, and I struggled with how to tie that character into this post without something trite like "well, they're both green, right?" And then it hit me. While we're on the subject of alliteration, why not look to everyone's favorite real-life alliterative inspiration, Ryan Reynolds, the owner of Aviation Gin and the face behind the mask of the Green Lantern in the live-action DC portrayal from a few years ago?:

And so I decided to make sure that I used Aviation Gin when I mixed my Martian. The best part of this relationship? Well, not only does Ryan Reynolds also play a Marvel character named Deadpool, but the second of those two movies (aptly named Deadpool 2) stars - at least for a hot minute - none other than Matt Damon, star of The Martian:

Now of course, we started this blog post by talking about alliteration, and I've gone to a lot of effort to include another "Martian" reference by pulling in Matt Damon by way of Ryan Reynolds by way of Aviation Gin as an ingredient for this cocktail. But it's probably worth noting that it's not hard to include another famous Martian in this rambling thread of references: Marvin.

"Whaaaaaa....?"

 - You, on hearing that.

Yep. Marvin the Martian is officially part of DC canon. It just so happens that there is a story in Martian Manhunter's adventures in which he encounters an alternate-universe version of the potential evolution of Martian-kind that resembles everyone's favorite helmeted Martian hell-bent on the destruction of Earth: Marvin the Martian...

It turns out that Martian Manhunter has saved the earth from destruction more than once... and at least once, it was from his very own kind... sorta. I think that's worth raising a drink to.

My Verdict:

I liked it! Admittedly, it was kind of sweet. Normally sweet drinks aren't my thing. I tend towards nice bourbon mixes with - at most - some dry vermouth or maybe some bitters. But the melon liqueur wasn't offensive, and the ratio was so unassuming that it really ended up just adding a fun flavor to a nice glass of high-quality gin. I will say that my choice to add a little lime juice helped cut the overt sugary sweetness, but it also added an element of natural sweetness, so I might recommend cutting the Midori ratio by as much as half in the future. It'll still be green, but it'll be a little less pungently sweet.