{"id":669,"date":"2009-08-10T02:05:40","date_gmt":"2009-08-10T02:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cocktailians.com\/2009\/08\/mxmo-submission-the-japonais.html"},"modified":"2009-08-10T02:05:40","modified_gmt":"2009-08-10T02:05:40","slug":"mxmo-submission-the-japonais","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/?p=669","title":{"rendered":"MxMo Submission: The Japonais"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mxmologo\" This month's Mixology Monday<\/a> is hosted by Amelia over at Felicia's Speakeasy<\/a> (hailing from Ithaca, NY, home of my alma mater<\/a><\/em>.) This one's a bit of a challenge, but a challenge is good every now and then. Why's this one particularly tough? I'll let her elaborate<\/a>: <\/p>\n

The theme of August 10th\u2019s Mixology Monday is \u201cVodka is Your Friend.\u201d The recent high profile bashings of vodka<\/a>
\ninterspersed with a few weak \u201cyeah, buts\u2026\u201d left me wondering, is vodka
\nthe axis of evil, our most dangerous enemy? While it may not be the
\nlife of the party, experts<\/a> agree: Vodka\u2019s obituary does not have to be written just yet.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, none other than LeNell Smothers<\/a> agrees, stating in her very-good-sounding recipe for a Rock and Rye Cooler<\/a> that:<\/p>\n

Yes, it does have vodka in it. You cocktail geeks who roll your
\neyes at the mention of vodka need to get over yourselves. Vodka does
\nserve a purpose in the cocktail kingdom as a good workhorse spirit to
\ncut stronger flavors or to just add a kick of spirity fire to juice. . .Vodka has been a beloved spirit for
\nhundreds of years. Stop the eye rolling and start the chilling out. We
\nall need to relax and love a bit more.<\/div>\n

I couldn't agree more. That said, however, I must admit that I very rarely use vodka, since I prefer to focus on spirits with more…assertive<\/em> flavor: your gins, your whiskies, your brandies, et cetera. I was at a loss over how to proceed, but my girlfriend Bari helped out quite a bit with this one. She's been drinking a lot of green tea lately as part of an effort to eat healthier (dear reader, I'm trying too, but that's a challenge in and of itself.) Inspired by some Trader Joe's Cranberry Green Tea<\/a> that we enjoy, we took a trip to the health-food aisle of the grocery store, then played around with several different flavors and proportions before we came up with:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Japonais<\/strong><\/p>\n