Field Report: Grilled Cheese-tini

Alright, loyal readers, you've seen me mention the grilled cheese martini served by Beecher's Handmade Cheese shops here and here, but little did I know that one day I would be graced with the opportunity to try this storied beverage. 

For those of you unwilling to click through these links to find out more about the martini, let me give you an overview.  The drink is quite literally infused with grilled cheese-- as in they make some of their signature grilled cheeses and douse them in vodka (allowing the liquor to soak up the grilled cheese essence).  That vodka is served in a martini glass with a tomato juice ice cube, muddled basil, and a balsamic reduction on the rim with bits of crispy prosciutto.  Sound weird to you too?  Good.  But, being a true grilled cheese anthropologist, I had to do my due diligence and give it a try.

Let me set the scene-- I'm in NYC with sous chef because he won tickets for us to go see Conan O' Brien while he was filming his show in NYC! 

 
After a day of wandering Times Square and goofing off in FAO Schwarz we headed downtown to the Beecher's shop to meet up with my friend Amanda for a drink... *ahem* for THE drink.



We headed down to "The Cellar," the bar/lounge located under the Beecher's cheese shop.  Colin and Amanda weren't ready to get adventurous with me just yet, so I was the only one to order the grilled cheese martini.  Note: It's not actually on the menu, you have to be "in the know" (or able to Google) to order this one.

And here she is!  Wow-- it looked just as interesting as it was described to be.  I could actually sort of see little bits of what I assume were grilled cheese sandwich floating around in there.  It certainly smelled like a grilled cheese too-- well, a grilled cheese doused in vodka.  Alright... no time like the present to take the plunge!

You need only look at this photo to determine just what I thought of the drink.  Incidentally this is the second sip I took-- we didn't capture the first on film, but I was told it was an even more intense reaction.  The fact that I'm posting this photo even though I look like a double-chinned granny is testament to just how committed I am to painting a complete and accurate portrait of this drink. 

After the initial shock wore off I was able to look at things a little more analytically.  But, let me preface my analysis by saying that nowadays I'm not a big drinker.  Even when I drank more, martinis were always too strong for me, so take this with a grain of salt (or a crumbling of prosciutto as the case may be).

I know it sounds redundant, but this definitely tastes like an alcohol-soaked grilled cheese.  It was sort of bitter with a cheesy and pungent aftertaste.  At first the tomato ice cube wasn't doing much for it, but as it melted it definitely started to take over as the more dominant flavor (like a weak bloody mary accompanied by some cheese).  The balsamic/bacon rim helped to add some salt/sweetness that was MUCH needed to cut the bitterness, so I focused my sips on that part of the glass and started thinking "OK, maybe I can do this."

 
But the more I sipped the more disheartened I became.  As I started to use up a lot of the bacon and as the tomato juice took over more and more I realized that this was not doing it for me.  Again, it could be because I'm not a martini girl to begin with, but it was just too much-- it was starting to give me a headache.

I'm not gonna make it :-(

The dregs-- note the cane cola in the background that I had already switched to drinking.

Oh well!  I gave it the old college try and can officially say I've experienced a whole new level of grilled cheese.  Even though I didn't like it, I would still recommend that people try it even for the sheer novelty of the experience.  I imagine not many people can say they've had a drink that is quite literally a grilled cheese in a glass.  Maybe those with more adventurous palates will actually like it!  As for me, I would've been better suited to stick with the drink I found earlier at FAO Schwarz: