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Martinis


RWBooneJr

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That is the quote of the day, all day, any day. Simpler things in life should not be so hard to attain.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good "dry" martini these days? Not the new/old vermouth-heavy versions, but the 90's-throwback, glass-of-booze kind. I'm astonished that anyone could screw up a drink with essentially one ingredient, but it happens all the time.

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Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good "dry" martini these days? Not the new/old vermouth-heavy versions, but the 90's-throwback, glass-of-booze kind. I'm astonished that anyone could screw up a drink with essentially one ingredient, but it happens all the time.

I remember a line from M*A*S*H*, with Hawkeye describing how to make the perfect martini:  Get a glass, a bottle of gin, and pour the gin into the glass while staring very hard at a bottle of vermouth.

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Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good "dry" martini these days? Not the new/old vermouth-heavy versions, but the 90's-throwback, glass-of-booze kind. I'm astonished that anyone could screw up a drink with essentially one ingredient, but it happens all the time.

Don't confuse the bartenders.

Order it this way.  (assuming you are a gin drinker).  I want (1.5, 2, or 2.5 ounces of ((gin of your choice)).  I want it very very very chilled.  I'd like some olives in it.  While you are preparing it....go stare at a bottle of vermouth.  

Serve it to me in a martini glass.

That might help.

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Don't confuse the bartenders.

Order it this way.  (assuming you are a gin drinker).  I want (1.5, 2, or 2.5 ounces of ((gin of your choice)).  I want it very very very chilled.  I'd like some olives in it.  While you are preparing it....go stare at a bottle of vermouth.  

Serve it to me in a martini glass.

That might help.

Perfect description of what I want!  I usually tell them to pass the vermouth bottle near the martini glass but don't make contact.

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I am not sure what this obsession with the vermouthless Martini.  It's just a shot of gin, chilled, serve up.  

Yeah, I'm sipping one at home, Bombay Sapphire gin (3 shots) and Martini & Rossi vermouth (about 4 drops), with a skewer of green pitted California olives. I'm getting deliciously tipsy.

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I am not sure what this obsession with the vermouthless Martini.  It's just a shot of gin, chilled, serve up.  

Exactly.  My avatar notwithstanding, I agree with Dean.

Do you want a chilled shot of gin in a fancy glass?  Just ask for it.  A martini is a specific cocktail containing gin and vermouth.  Would anyone consider bemoaning the difficulty of getting a "dry" manhattan?  I never understood this.

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Because its cute and sly to say something like: "2oz of gin, olives, and point it towards France" or "2 shots of gin, olives, and surrender it to me, just like the French would" or "3/4 glass of chilled gin, olives and some juice, and then wave that French toast near it, but don't get any syrup on it"

I find them to be delicious in either format, light or no vermouth. Heavy vermouth probably wouldn't be great, but I haven't had it that way.

I despise that I had them with vodka as a youth. I didn't know!!!! I'm sorry!!!

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Reverse martinis (with good quality vermouth) can be a really nice alternative, particularly if you want to go with something with slightly less alcohol.

What you're describing is a Martinez...and yes, they are quite delicious.

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A Martinez is 2 oz Gin, 3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth, 1/3 oz Maraschino & Dash Bitters.  I like to go a little heavier on the Maraschino than the traditional recipe,  You can play for days using various amari as bitters.

Traditionally, the gin is an Old Tom style and the drink is very sweet as a result.  I can go either way.

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I like my martini 4:1 with a tamer gin like Plymouth, and as Dean said, a dash of bitters. On the rocks. There is nothing wrong with drinking straight gin, just don't call it a martini.

Well said. In the old days of the tech industry, when the three martini lunch was still in vogue, at places like Marco Polo in Vienna, the diner would order a gin with rocks and a twist. The waiter would bring him a little "pitcher" of gin alongside his glass so the drinker could keep topping off his drink and save the waiter a few trips back and forth to the bar....they never called it a martini.

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The drink I had in mind uses dry vermouth, and makes a great appertif. A Carpano Martinez sounds great but very different.

Ah...well that sounds fantastic too!

A Martinez is 2 oz Gin, 3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth, 1/3 oz Maraschino & Dash Bitters.  I like to go a little heavier on the Maraschino than the traditional recipe,  You can play for days using various amari as bitters.

Traditionally, the gin is an Old Tom style and the drink is very sweet as a result.  I can go either way.

Interesting...I've always made my Martinez with equal parts vermouth and gin...but definitely with an Old Tom.

Sounds like I have 2 new gin drink variations to try.

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Last night was a beefeater with 4 olives .

I favor  rinsing the ice with vermouth:

ice + glass + vermouth. stir, pour out liquid.  Vermouth is toothy enough that just the right amount will stick to the ice and mix well when the gin hits it.

At home  I stick the finished drink in the freezer for a couple of minutes to get it colder. Temperature not vermouth is what vexes me most in DC .

Passenger will make you happy if you like Martinis or even if you don't . Am going to miss that bar.

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I also enjoyed dirty vodka martini's.  Very chilled.  Heavy on the olive juice.  Several olives please.  Stuffed olives even better.  Two would make me enjoyably stupid.  Enjoyable for me.  Possibly or possibly not enjoyable with my partner for the evening.  Old bud's enjoyed it.  My ex-wife hated it.  (and thus that habit ended).

Can't do it any more.  T'ant pis.

I do recall the first martini I ever had.  So young at the time.  Naive-not familiar with the drink.  Attending an event that was probably above my social station, existent savoir faire, and with folks with whom I mostly felt uncomfortable.

Ahhh...that martini.  It surprised me.  It became my best friend for the evening.  We remained on excellent terms for a very long time.

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I favor rinsing the ice with vermouth...

Precisely, although you get largely the same effect with less waste from coating the sides of a freezer-chilled glass with vermouth and dumping the few extra drops that remain.

This is a very refreshing, very strong drink -- plus a snack, if garnished with good olives. Sometimes that's just what you need, though it's almost necessarily a one and done for me. I scoff at those who say it isn't a "real martini." It was for 50 years, before a bunch of hipsters discovered some very old cocktail books.

I like mine with vodka. I'm basically James Bond.

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I believe Adam Bernbach, when he was doing some sessions on cocktail variations (daiquiris 4 ways, old-fashioned 4 ways, and manhattans 4 ways), told me that he didn't even bother doing sessions on martini variations.  He said martinis are like cigarettes:  everyone is loyal to their own brand and want them exactly the way they want them.

edit:  My signature isn't showing for some reason, but it reads ""All martinis taste good but do not promote fine distinctions in taste or other areas of intellectual discrimination." Raymond Sokolov, How to Cook"

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Last night was a beefeater with 4 olives .

if you enjoy a beefeater martini, you might also like jensen's london dry. it's a new gin i discovered last year and there's a great story behind it (http://www.bermondseygin.com/). it's rumored to be the original beefeater recipe before beefeater became big. i was a steadfast beefeater consumer until i discovered jensen's.

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