Sakura Martini

A blend of sake, gin and maraschino. Bottled and aged for at least six weeks. Kenta Goto made this at Bar Goto in New York in 2015 and it turns the Martini inside out. Sake takes the vermouth's job as the modifying ingredient, and it softens the gin with a clean, rice-grain quality that dry vermouth has no way of reaching. A touch of maraschino lifts it without pulling it anywhere. The salted cherry blossom is not decoration. The savoury, saline note it adds is what earns the drink its name, so we put one in the box with every 250ml. Straight up in a chilled coupe, with the blossom on top. Delicate, saline and balanced. The kind of drink that takes a second glass before you fully understand it.