Take a bottle of Tanqueray gin, and remove the cap. you will notice there is a little space for air above the surface of the gin. Fill this with dry Cinzano, and replace the lid. Place the bottle in your fridge’s freezer compartment. Come back the next day and enjoy.
Trust me.
Thanks to the late, great Aussie booze correspondent journo Mark Shield for this one.
It’s a great Martini to have with cigarettes at 6:30am. Or at any time! Heck serve it in a coffee mug!
Personally, I like vermouth in my martini - about one part Martini and Rossi to four parts Bombay. But for those of you who only want a hint of vermouth and like olives, try this: after you buy your jar of olives, pour the brine out the jar and replace it with vermouth. Keep these “tipsy olives” in your refrigerator until they’re all gone.
The same trick for olives works if you just want to cover them with Gin or Vodka.
Am I the only one who actually prefers a little dilution of the drink? I don’t freeze my Gin ( I prefer Tanqueray ). When I shake it with ice, the ice melts. In addition to making the drink very cold, it dilutes it down and makes it less than 100% booze.
I enjoy scotch the same way. Ice in the glass, and let it melt for a couple minutes before drinking.
Get the cocktail glass out. Put a handful of ice into it and fill it with water.
Pull out the Tipsy Onions (!) jar. (Yes, this is a Gibson, not a martini. I just like it better.) Skewer one to three of the big phrackin’ onions and set the pick aside.
Take:
Two jiggers of Tanqueray.
Enough vermouth to achieve the 8:1 ratio. (I just eyeball it.)
Pour into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice and stir with a long spoon… I count quickly to 51, though I don’t know where I got that from.
Pop the top on, pour out the ice and water from the glass, throw the onions into the glass and strain the mixture into the glass.
I’ve tried Tanqueray, Bombay, Bombay Saphire, but I really like Hendricks for martinis. It has a much nicer flavor that really works with my favorite version, a dirty martini (olive juice).
I either pour a measure of vermouth into the glass, swirl it to coat the glass, then dump the rest out, or if I have a cocktail shaker do the same with ice in the shaker.
OK, I’ve got some Tanqueray and some Grey Goose. It’s after 5:00 - further experimenting will now commence (if I’m still here at midnight, somebody tell me to go to bed).
Rinse glass with vermouth (Martini and Rossi extra dry). I use a shaker (though there is nothing to mix) just to chill the vodka (Skyy) and add to the glass. Two olives on a toothpick. I am using a tumbler because its freaking New Years Eve and the drinks are super-sized tonight.
I got two big ol’ bottles of Grey Goose for Giftmas, mine, all mine I tell you!!! So wonderful, but to heck with this martini bidness. I just take shots or mix it with lime juice. Dee-licious.
Martinis seem to sippy and pretentious to me. Though I do have one of those pewter looking GG glasses and an Absolut glass.
This is all great advice on a good day, i.e. when you happen to have all the fixings at home at the right time and you’re in the mood for a Bond moment, but…
…normally you’d put a slug of the cheap gin you usually buy into any glass that’s handy, take the empty vermouth bottle from last year and wave it over the glass, add any of the following, if you happen to have them around:
What the hell do you all have against Vermouth? If you’re just “waving the bottle over the glass” or pouring Vermouth into the glass just to dirty the glass, it’s not a Martini, it’s just Gin.
Empirical evidence from the field (Vancouver BC Division):
Equipment:
-Bombay Sapphire Gin
-Noilly Prat Vermouth
Tipsy olives (also Tipsy onions on hand for those who prefer Gibsons. We do not discriminate.)
Methodology:
-Gin in freezer for 36 hrs. prior to party
-Vermouth in fridge, ditto. -metal shaker full of ice also stored in freezer
cocktail glasses, ditto
Prep:
Never prepare more than 2 Martinis at once; swirl a few drops of chilled Vermouth around cocktail glasses;
pour 2 oz. Gin into metal shaker, stir gently, strain through fine metal mesh strainer into frozen cocktail glasses. Add 2 olives (or, if the guest prefers, onions).
Operatives Note: We were gratified to see frost forming on the exterior of the metal shaker during the gentle stirring procedure.
Note! It is important that the correct protective clothing be worn at all times. (Research assistant Rodd Hill to left.)
It should be noted that positive reactions to above procedures were recorded from random test subjects in attendance at the experiment from Atlanta, Marseilles, Montreal and North Carolina.
