1 1/2 oz vodka

3/4 oz lillet blanc

3/4 oz lime juice

1/2 oz simple syrup

3 thin slices cucumber

mash two slices cucumber in a mixing glass and cover with ice.

combine all ingredients.  shake and strain into a chilled martini shell.

garnish with third cucumber slice (given the name, i bent it into an s-shape on a cocktail pick)

last night we had a buyout of the bar, which kept us going til 2 am and turned out, despite some initial misgivings, to be a bunch of pretty nice folks who treated us very well (both on a personal level and financially).  they sent us a list of three specials they wanted us to run (the other two were specified, and not really worth mentioning); the money grip just said a green martini.  after messing around with green chartreuse and pastis ricard for awhile, to no real avail, i decided what they really wanted was a fancied-up kamikaze, which is what this is.  turns out i was right, and we sold a metric fuck-ton of them.

i only sort of consider this one mine, more of a work-for-hire, really, but i was pleased enough with the result for me to mention it here.  not every cocktail needs to be challenging or interesting, after all.  sometimes people just want an easy way to knock back some ethanol and chill the fuck out.