fresh watermelon-vodka martini

from vegan soul kitchen

i’m not much of a bartender, but every now and then it is fun to make cocktails, especially with fresh seasonal ingredients like watermelon. our friend joffree gave us a really nice bottle of nikka coffey vodka, so this was a great use of it. i made the basil sea salt by combining a few basil leaves with a tablespoon of very coarse sea salt in the spice grider, and it worked like a charm. i ended up making this a second time, and doubled the lime juice to make it a little more tart and balanced.

Yield: 2 servings

Soundtrack: "Who Me?" by KMD from The Best of KMD

Art: "How to Market Kitty Litter to Black People" by Hank Willis Thomas

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice (i recommend at least 2)

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tablespoon agave nectar

6 tablespoons vodka

1/2 cup fresh red watermelon juice (page 16)

2 red watermelon wedges (with rind), 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick

Herbed Sea Salt (basil)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Top it with cold water, and place in a freezer. Next, rinse two martini glasses with cold water and immediately place them in a freezer. Remove cocktail shaker from the freezer, empty, and refill with fresh ice.

Add the lime juice, orange juice, agave nectar, vodka, and watermelon juice in the chilled cocktail shaker. Vigorously shake ingredients until well chilled, about 30 sec- onds. Strain into the martini glass. Garnish with a wedge of watermelon by placing it directly in the martini glass (with the rind sticking out), add a pinch of Basil Sea Salt, and serve.