Journalist Cocktail Recipe

It's not an easy time to be a journalist. The decline of newspapers and magazines means the old days of having a steady, salaried beat are mostly gone, and for those of us freelancers the time between assignments—and paychecks—seems to grow longer every day.

If there's one redeeming notion to savor while waiting for a publisher's delayed payment or an editor's reply to a pitch, it's this—at least there's a great drink to go along with the profession.

The Journalist Cocktail goes back to at least 1930, when it appeared in the Savoy Cocktail Book. Essentially a perfect martini—"perfect" in the cocktail sense meaning it's made with equal parts dry and sweet vermouth—with a dash of this and that for flavorful accents, the Journalist is dry and crisp, yet has a complexity and hint of richness that make it especially endearing.

There may not be riches in the profession, but with a Journalist Cocktail in front of you, it's a little easier to feel that there may yet be hope.