Vodka martinis overtook the original gin martini back in the 1990s. The trend was started by Bond, James Bond, who liked vodka martinis shaken, not stirred (and he picked that tip up from the writer Somerset Maugham).

But new artisan gins are providing a reason to return to the original. Vodka is a simple, unflavored distillation. Gin is the opposite—so many different aromatics go into creating a fine gin, that each brand is very different from the next (see the components of gin). With very complex flavors—as much as any fine wine—fine gin, like fine Scotch, is delicious straight up.

It also makes a better Martini. For Father’s Day, we’re trying a new small-batch gin, G’Vine. The word is a contraction of gin and the French word vigne, grapevine—for this gin is made in France from grapes instead of juniper berries.

Make artisan gin part of your weekend celebration. Even if you’re not celebrating with your father, you can toast in his honor.

Learn more about gin and find martini recipes:

A Gibson is a martini garnished with cocktail
onions instead of olives or lemon peel.
Photo by Philip Pellat | IST

The best golf ball cupcake we’ve seen,
from FamousCupcakes.com.

This is the best golf cupcake we’ve seen, created by Famous Cupcakes in Los Angeles.

If you’re not in the neighborhood, you can make similar cupcakes at home. The key is finding chocolate golf balls. You can look for them online; we buy them from Woodhouse Chocolate). (If you think this recipe will become part of your repertoire, you can make your own with a golf ball mold.)

You’ll also need some brand-new golf tees. Follow Famous Cupcake’s design and aim for red tees, which add bright color to the cupcake composition. Any flavor of cupcake will do, but think of what goes well with coconut.

Then:

1. Make the “grass.” Put shredded coconut in a small bowl with green food color and mix with a fork. Spread the coconut on a plate, baking sheet or in a pan to dry.

2. Frost cupcakes lightly with green-tinted buttercream—just enough frosting to enable the coconut to adhere. Prior to tinting the buttercream, reserve some to adhere the golf balls.

3. Lightly tap the coconut onto the icing. Insert the (washed) tee and use icing to adhere the chocolate golf ball. Royal icing will make it adhere more firmly than buttercream.

4. Serve to delighted golfers.

Find more recipes in our Gourmet Cakes Section.

Still haven’t found that something special for Father’s Day? There are only 6 shopping days left!

If money is no object, and if Dad loves specialty coffee drinks, then Saeco’s new Xelsis superautomatic coffee machine is pretty darn exciting.

Superautomatics are complete “coffee centers” that perform the entire espresso- (or other coffee-) making process at the touch of a button. While you do have to load the machine with the ingredients (coffee beans, water, milk), that one touch then takes over.

The Xelsis is a “dream machine”; it’s as if Saeco listened to all of the shortcomings consumers found with other superautomatics and designed the Xelsis to triumph on every detail.

On the simplest level, the machine grinds the beans, makes the coffee and froths the milk. The espresso, lungo, latte, cappuccino, coffee or special beverage of your choice falls gracefully into your cup.

Saeco’s new Xelsis Coffee Center: the “deam
machine” for specialty coffee drinks.

On the macro level, it takes time to study the details, which are available in print and online. Just a few: Milk never enters into the machine, so there are no milk pipes to clean. Removing the grounds is simple: There’s no drip tray or milk carafe to remove in order to open the door to the grinds. The machine even goes into Energy Safe mode after a few minutes, minimizing power consumption.

• You can pre-program a “profile” with your specific desires (the strength and temperature of the coffee and the consistency of the milk foam, for example). Today, the Xelsis can accommodate six different profiles. In the fall, machines will have a fingerprint technology so everyone in an office can have a profile.

• The water tank has a filter that purifies your tap water.

• A separate steam nozzle can reheat your coffee (or tea, soup and other liquids not related to the Xelsis).

This handsome stainless steel machine will turn the home or workplace into a high-end coffee bar. The removable milk pitcher can be kept in the refrigerator between uses. And it automatically cleans itself after each use!

Around $3,000, it can be purchased at Bloomingdale’s and online at www.SeattleCoffeeGear.com.

Find reviews of our favorite coffees, enlightening articles and recipes in our Gourmet Coffee Section.

Also check out our Espresso Glossary, an education in the differences between affogato, cappuccino, espresso, lungo, macchiato, ristretto and just about every other coffee drink.

Switch ice cubes for stone cubes and you
won’t dilute your drink. Photo courtesy
Sur La Table.

Whiskey stones, you ask?

Talk about “on the rocks!” For those who want to chill their whiskey, but not dilute it, whiskey stones are the elegant answer. (You don’t want to plop plastic ice cubes into a single malt, do you?)

The concept was popularized in Scandinavia, where people have chilled whiskey with granite rocks for hundreds of years.

These all-natural, handcrafted Vermont soapstone whiskey stones have superior thermal properties to granite, and won’t scratch the glass. They reside in the freezer until they’re called upon to do their job.

Stones are nonporous, so they won’t impart any flavors or odors to the drink. The perfect cube shape of the stones also allows for a better and more even chilling.

Give a set for Father’s Day to your favorite lover of Bourbon, Irish Whiskey, Scotch or other fine whiskey. Nine stones in a muslin storage bag—enough to chill three drinks—are $19.95 at Sur La Table.

Need to learn the differences among these and other types of whiskey? See our Whiskey Glossary.)

Men don’t tend to swoon over boxes of pretty artisan chocolates. They’re more likely to dig into a chocolate bar.

But how about a chocolate cigar?

Woodhouse Chocolate (a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week) fills milk chocolate cigars with chocolate ganache—flavored with single malt Scotch! And yes, you can “smoke” it along with a glass of Scotch.

Find more of our Father’s Day chocolate gifts, including real chocolate sprinkles (jimmies) made by one of the world’s greatest chocolate producers, Guittard.

Chocolate cigars filled with Scotch-infused
ganache. Photo courtesy Woodhouse Chocolate.

Dee Dee’s Gourmet Cheese Straws are
great with a beer. Photo by Hannah
Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

While TheNibble.com and this blog are filled with gourmet food ideas, we’ve picked a few interesting and affordable gift ideas for Father’s Day:

• Spicy cheese straws from Dee Dee’s Gourmet, in a reusable gift tin

• Lucero artisan olive oil, made by a grandfather, father and son team in California

• Beautiful heirloom beans from California’s Rancho Gordo, for dads who like to cook

• Porto Mangiare Meatball Mix, for dads who cook a little bit—it makes delicious beef or turkey meatballs (there’s a gluten-free version, too)

And more!

See the tasty choices.

Gift-of-the-month clubs are the gifts that keep on giving. Every month, for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, the recipient gets another treat.

Food gift-of-the-month clubs abound, from cheese, chocolate, coffee and cookies to bacon and hot sauce.

For Father’s Day, we sampled three “club” gifts that we’d be happy to receive:

• Jerky Of The Month

• Microwbrewed Beer Of The Month

• Olive Oil Of The Month

The selections are top-quality and left us wanting more. Learn more about them.

Give a monthly gift of top-quality olive oils from
around the world. Photo by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE.

If Dad is bacon-centric, check out our list of bacon gifts.

Sure, there’s a pricey bacon-of-the-month club, but you can put together a basket of affordable favorites like Baconnaise bacon-flavored mayonnaise and bacon chocolate.

If Dad isn’t into bacon, check out our other Father’s Day gift ideas.

And check out our original recipe for bacon jam.

Tangy and smoky with a touch of sweet balsamic vinegar, it’s a cause for celebration on any day, but a memorable treat for Father’s Day.

How Well Do You Know Your Pork Products?

Check out our delicious Pork Glossary.

The new bacon and eggs: chocolate eggs
filled with bacon caramel. Photo courtesy
Vosges Haut Chocolat.

Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor of England under Queen Elizabeth I, was an author, lawyer, jurist, philosopher and scientist. But he most likely never had bacon peanut brittle. If he had, it would have become as popular as English toffee.

In his honor, two baconeers from Atlanta are making Sir Francis Bacon Peanut Brittle.

The brittle is produced in small batches in copper kettles. Buttery, salty, smoky and crunchy, this all-natural confection will find fans among everyone who likes bacon.

The sweetness is kept at a sensible level, so there’s no “cloy factor.” The chocolate bacon brittle is a kind of yummy bacon buttercrunch.

The packaging looks like it could come from the 17th century—except for the pig snout mask that Sir Francis sports.

What wine to serve with bacon brittle? Champagne!

Send Sir Francis Bacon Brittle to dads, grads and bacon lovers everywhere.

• Read the full review.

• Find more of our favorite candy in our Gourmet Candy Section.

Recipients will squeal after their first bite of
bacon brittle. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

One of our favorite single malts is Bowmore,
but not everyone likes the peaty Islay
style. Photo courtesy Laphroaig.

When it’s time to buy a single malt Scotch, we generally call Park Avenue Liquor Shop, which hosts one of the largest retail collections of single malt whiskies in the country—339 selections (they can send you the full list)!

No matter how much you think you know, you can use a consultation with a single malt expert. Michael Jackson’s Complete Guide To Single Malt Scotch covers some 800 single malts (by the way, pairing the book with a bottle is a great idea). So were do you begin?

We begin by asking someone who’s had almost as many single malts as Michael Jackson. Park Avenue’s proprietor Jonathan Goldstein, a single malt expert and a Keeper of the Quaich,* offers this advice:

1. Like? First, does Dad even like Scotch? Have you seen him drink it before? You would be surprised how many people come in, notes Goldstein, and ask for a single malt because their father drinks Wild Turkey—which is a Bourbon! Ignorance is no reason for embarrassment, but it is a reason to consult a professional who wants to help you make the right choice.

*Quaich is pronounced kwaych with a gutteral “ch,” as in the Scottish loch or German ach and ich. The traditional shallow-bowl drinking vessel of Scotland, which has two or three handles, dates to the Druids. At parties and clan gatherings, large quaichs filled with whiskey were passed from person to person.

2. Brands? Do you know what brands of Scotch Dad drinks? Maybe he’s not even a single malt guy—the best-selling brands are blended Scotches. Your input will help your consultant determine what area(s) of Scotland to suggest for a single malt. A peaty Islay whisky like Bowmore is very different from a Speyside whisky like Balvenie, which has citrus and sherry flavors. The names of even a few of the labels on Dad’s shelf will help greatly. And if you know what he doesn’t like, that’s almost as important.

3. Budget? How much are you willing to spend and how many bottles do you want for your money. Do you want one super bottle? Do you want a variety of bottles so Dad has a “collection” to compare and contrast? Your expert should be able to find excellent choices in all price ranges, and knows about special new releases.

4. Collector? Is Dad a serious collector of single malts? Many distilleries create investment-worthy bottles (a recent bottling of The Macallan, a 57-year-old single malt Scotch in Lalique Crystal, retails for $19,100). An alternative for collectors are “exclusive” bottlings, handled by a few specialist shops. Park Avenue’s exclusives start at $67.

• For single malt help, call Park Avenue Liquor Shop at 1.212.685.2442.

• To learn how whiskeys differ (Bourbon, Canadian, Irish, Scotch, Tennessee, etc.) and beef up your whiskey terminology, see our Whiskey Glossary.