In the absence of orange bitters, which aren’t always easy to find and have become incredibly expensive, I copped a move from my dad and twist a big ole peel of orange rind into a Martini. More specifically, I use a big piece with the pith intact while mixing (stirred in a glass pitcher), and then garnish the drink with a smaller piece of peel, pith removed.

The garnishing isn’t a mere plop of the peel into the drink; I squeeze the strip of orange along its long axis over top of the drink, releasing the oils onto the surface of the liquid. I then rim the glass with the orange peel for that je ne said quoi. I enjoy the entire process of making the drink.

One of the visual aspects that I enjoy the most about this is seeing the orange oils floating atop the drink. In the same way that oil and water don’t mix, oil and gin doesn’t mix. I’ve always marveled at the visual picture of the oils resting atop the gin, but struggled to capture a picture that expresses it.

You can see them a bit in this pic, mostly on the left side of the drink, where the light hits the surface. My drinks are much smaller than they used to be, and lavishing attention on little details brings me much joy.