I had kind of a crap week—long hours, tight deadlines and tons of stress. I just felt like hanging at home and having a drink—something I don’t usually do, much to the annoyance of Bill. We have so much wine and liquor here, but I feel weird drinking at home. I think it’s more of a social activity to me—something I do when I feel good, not when I’m feeling shitty. But I’m so tired and don’t feel like being social so I decided to make a cocktail and sit on my couch.

I am usually a dirty martini girl, but I like to mix it up once in a while. Recently, my friend Eve introduced me to the Ginger Martini. I think she uses a lemon vodka with a little lemon juice, but the star of the show is a ginger liqueur called Domaine De Canton. According to their website, it’s a blend of ginger, VSOP cognac and XO Grand Champagne cognacs, which makes a lovely gingery, vanilla flavor. It has a kick with a touch of sweet.

Domaine De Canton

It was love at first sip. So, of course, I ran out and bought some Domaine De Canton. I’ve tried to reproduce Eve’s martini but I felt like I was missing something, so I started to play around with the recipe a bit.

And this weekend I hit paydirt.

I used Belvedere Vodka, lemon juice, Domaine De Canton and—are you ready?—a ginger simple syrup. OhMAHGOD. It’s sweet (but not to sweet), tangy and has a little bite.

Ginger Simple Syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

In a saucepan place the ginger, water and sugar over medium-low heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. The sugar will dissolve while the giner seeps into the mixture. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove the syrup from the heat. Remove the ginger and put the syrup in the fridge to chill.

Sweet Ginger Martini

3 oz. Domaine De Canton

2 oz. vodka

1 teaspoon of the ginger syrup (I used 2 and it was just a little too sweet. You can keep the syrup in the fridge for up to 2 weeks)

Lemon juice (if you can, use fresh. I squeezed about half a lemon)

Fill a cocktail shaker about halfway with ice, add the lemon juice, Domaine De Canton, Vodka and ginger syrup. Shake, and pour into a martini glass.

I know this is a little bit of work, but I swear to you, it’s worth it. I’m going to try some other recipes with the simple syrup in them so you don’t feel like you’re throwing away a bunch of sugar.

PS: You can get the Domaine de Canton at Beverages and More. And, no, this isn’t an ad. They’re the only company that makes it (as far as I know).

PSS: You just just want some sweet without the tang of the ginger, leave it out. You can always mix it with flavored martinis for a little extra sweetness.

PSSS: Should this be a weekly feature?! (And excuse to drink, right?!)