OOPS! That should be “swish the Vermouth in the glass and pour it out before adding the cocktail.”
I had just gone to bed when I realized this mistake. It should have read:
"Interestingly, if you order an extra dry Martini on the rocks, instead of just plain on the rocks gin or vodka, you’ve just increased the price of basically the same drink.
(In addition to sampling several different concotions in class, you also got two or three full drinks of your own, including one you mixed yourself behind the bar. So many brain cells were killed in calss and I didn’t have the best subject retention. Another reason I took it twice. 
)
No, it’s not. Merriam-Webster: “a dry or sweet aperitif wine flavored with aromatic herbs and often used in mixed drinks”
Martini, on the other hand is.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by International Playboy *Interestingly, if you order an extra dry Martini on the rocks, instead of just plain on the rocks gin or vodka, you’ve just increased the price of basically the same drink.
[/QUOTE
???
No, if you order a plain gin on the rocks, you’re served a single. If you order a martini, you’re given a martini portion (which I don’t believe is a double, but something like 1 1/2). So, you’re paying extra for more alcohol.
5-HT, what’s a vodka martini? 
a) If I’m going to drink straight distilled spirits, I’m going to go with scotch, tequila, bourbon, or rum. If those aren’t available, rye, cognac, saki or vodka. Gin would be the bottom of the list, more or less on par with peppermint schnapps.
b) Calling gin in a glass a “martini” doesn’t make it a mixed drink. To be a mixed drink, the distilled spirits have to actually mix with something other than themselves. To be sure, I would not, having tasted gin a couple of times (usually by accident), recommend mixing it with vermouth.
My Dad drank very dry vodka martinis. He had this little ritual:
Put ice in short glass. Fill to top with vodka. Pour vermouth into its cap. Pour vermouth back into bottle. Take cap and shake it over glass of vodka. If a drop fell in, ok. If not, that’s ok too. Add 3 olives on a toothpick. Stir.
(Blech!)
I would not call this a Gibson. A classic Gibson is mixed 1:1 gin to dry vermouth, served in a cocktail glass, and garnished with a cocktail onion.
Interesting but I still stand by my statement. I did a Google search on “Classic Gibson” and found no 50/50 mixtures called a gibson. The recipes I did find were pretty much a Martini with an olive in it, such as the one here and here.
I did find this site though, which gives a couple of other origins of the Gibson name. Still describes it as a Martini with onions instead of olives though.
I guess cocktails, like many other things are regional and a matter of taste. I remember the evening following my first Martini class. I was to meet a woman for dinner. While waiting for my date to arrive, I sat at the bar of the restaurant, where someone ordered a dry Martini. I watched closely as the bartender made it, and had to restrain myself from telling her she did it all wrong. 
Also, back in my nightclubbing days, I would often drink what I learned was a “Salty Dog.” Gin and grapefruit juice in a highball glass with a salted rim. It seems now, whenever I order a mixed drink by that name, the bartender will get a funny look on their face like they’re thinking about it, and the drink will have vodka instead of gin in it. Moot point now as I’m not suppose to consume grapefruit anymore.
Another argument we could get into is cocktails vs. mixed drinks. I’ve seen in some bar guides that a cocktail is a drink like a Martini or a Manhattan, one that requires shaking or stirring. A mixed drink is something like a Salty Dog, a Screwdriver, or a 7 & 7, one that requires no art but just pouring booze and a mixer into a glass.
Necros, I’m just repeating what the instructor, who has been bartending for decades, told us. What you say makes sense though, on why there would be a difference in cost.
Gah, me either!, AHunter3. I detest gin. A vodka martini is very nice though. I enjoy a nice Chopin martini dirty every once in a while. mmm…potato vodka…
International Playboy: Here’s one link to a Gibson as I learned it from some old bartenders, and as documented in the only printed guide I have handy, Vintage Coctails, 1920-1960, by Susan Waggoner and Robert Markel.
Well, I can’t read. The recipe I linked to says 2 drops, not ounces. Sheesh. Apologies all around. The book I referenced, however, gives the recipe as I stated earlier.
I found one web source for a 50/50 Gibson.
Now back the the regularly scheduled thread . . .
[b}gossamer**, sounds like an interesting book.One reason I picked my name for this place, aside from the Jethro Bodine reference, is that I like the cocktail/swinging bachelor era of the late 50s to mid 60s.
I wrote my last post at work but I’m home today and just pulled out The Craft of the Cocktail, by Dale Degroff. It’s a really interesting guide which I bought a few months ago. His Gibson is based on the dry Martini, but I did find a couple of things that I think validates your recipe.
First is a quote about gin leading to his “Nick and Nora Martini”:
The “Nick and Nora” takes 1 and 1/2 oz of gin and 1/2 oz dry vermouth.
Second is a quote from the description of a “Knickerbocker Martini” :
Among the many Martini recipes in this book, he includes one for an “Upside-Down Martini”:
2 and 1/2 ounces French dry vermouth
1 ounce gin
lemon peel, for garnish
gossamer, you posted that last one while I was composing mine.
It’s my turn to go “ewww” now. A maraschino cherry in gin and vermouth?
BTW, I saved that site in my "favorites’ list, thanks for the link.