Martini's etc.

[Scumpup]

@BrainGlutton

BTW: Does anybody every drink vermouth? I mean straight vermouth, unmixed with anything else.

I have had it served to me that way twice, both times by European immigrants. It was kind of unexpected, but not unpleasant; certainly something to sip rather than gulp.

[KellyM]

@BrainGlutton

BTW: Does anybody every drink vermouth? I mean straight vermouth, unmixed with anything else.

I keep meaning to taste it just to see what it tastes like straight.

[TheFaerie]

@poeticyde

I like vodka martinis, shaken, 4:1 vodka/vermouth ratio, dirty, with two olives.

A man after my own heart. The Elf makes that exact martini for me. I even know how he makes it and copy it exactly, and he still does it better. Have you tried jalapeno-stuffed olives? Extra yum.

I have had a gin martini. It tasted like a christmas tree. Gin not so much my favorite…

[pulykamell]

@BrainGlutton

BTW: Does anybody every drink vermouth? I mean straight vermouth, unmixed with anything else.

My old girlfriend drank sweet Martini & Rossi vermouth straight. I never quite developed a taste for it, but it’s not too bad.

[FordPrefect]

@Barbarian

Gin should be stirred with ice; if shaken, it oxidizes and tastes harsh (hence the bruising). Make two drinks and test it yourself if you don’t believe me.

Vodka doesn’t deserve to be put in a cocktail glass…

However, I have tried this experiment, probably at your behest in a previous Martini thread. I preferred the shaken over the stirred. I shake semi-violently eleven times for a 4 oz martini, 1/4 oz vermouth and 1 oz cold olive juice. If the juice is warm, as in a new jar of olives, then I shake twelve times. I don’t get ice slivers in my glass so it doesn’t sound like I am shaking as much as some do.

The drink I stirred seemed to be over powered by the gin. Perhaps I should try making it wetter if stirring. I seem to be on the very dry end of the Vermouth scale based on other ratios here.

Personally, I have no need to change my recipe, since it is the perfect mix for me, but I do want to know how to make other variants for my less discerning guests

[Ass_For_A_Hat]

@KellyM

I keep meaning to taste it just to see what it tastes like straight.

Don’t bother with the standard Martini & Rossi vermouth. It tastes like ass. There are some high end vermouths out there that you can actually drink by themselves. King Eider is one, and it does very well in a martini too.

I can’t believe this thread has gone on as long as it has with no one mentioning Citadelle. IMHO the finest gin for martinis. For those of you that like Saphire, if you haven’t tried Citadelle, you really should.

[Kent_Clark]

In a classic bit of stage business in the 1955 play Auntie Mame sophisticated pre-adolescent Patrick Dennis offers a martini, which he prepares by swilling a drop of vermouth in the glass, then tossing it out before filling the glass with gin.

It wasn’t just stage business. My father actually made martinis by swirling vermouth around the glass, pouring it out, and filling with gin. He even chilled the gin and vermouth, so there’s be no need for ice.

Of course, he drank bourbon himself, so it was all for show.

[vetbridge]

My favorite “Martini” is made with Belvadere vodka. Shaken with ice enough to chill it without much dilution. Strain into a Martini glass and drink in one long swallow. Rinse and repeat.

[Eleusis]

Grey Goose vodka, shaken like a mf, with maybe 3 drops of olive juice and 3 olives. No vermouth.

[Ogre]

From a previous thread on this subject. So good, you’ll slap your mama.

@Ogre

Ex-bartender who used to make buckets of tips on the martinis he made (this was well before the current martini craze) here -

Ogre’s Orgiastic Filthy Martini:

1. Prepare glasses. Decant a tiny amount of dry vermouth into chilled glass. Coat inside of glass by swirling. Discard extra vermouth.
2. Pour 2 ounces of good gin (never vodka! Jesus!) over clean, cracked ice cubes in shaker.
3. Pour 2 ounces of the nastiest, saltiest, most wonderful olive juice you can find into shaker.
4. Place 2 large manzanilla olives in shaker.
5. Shake the ever-lovin’ bejeezus out of the mix until the ice tears apart the olives and you have fine olive particles floating around.
6. Strain into prepared glass, garnish with as many olives as you can stand.
7. Sip, while shuddering with delight.

Seriously, if martinis were like sex, this one would be breathless, sweaty, madly grinding, knock-over-the-TV, funky sex. By contrast, the following martini would be refined, slow, intense lovemaking. Either way, it’s hard to complain.

Ogre’s Classic Martini (with a twist)

1. Prepare glasses as above. Coat the entire inside with a fine film of dry vermouth by swirling and discard the excess vermouth.
2. Pour 2 ounces of good gin over clean, cracked ice.
3. Shake vigorously, until gin/ice are cloudy.
4. Strain into prepared glass.
5. Twist one strip of fresh lime peel, rub lime oil on rim of glass.
6. Drop lime twist into martini.
7. Sip, while shuddering with delight.

The lime oil (not juice!) is the absolute perfect complement to the juniper flavor of the gin. Divine.

[Necros]

I opened this thread with a large amount of trepidation, expecting to see discussions of cranberry juice, Godiva chocolate something or other, or strange neon-blue liquids.

Imagine my delight when I saw the thread was actually about gin, vermouth and olives. Amazing.

Then, the vodka people came in and ruined it all. Oh well.

[KellyM]

@Necros

I opened this thread with a large amount of trepidation, expecting to see discussions of cranberry juice, Godiva chocolate something or other, or strange neon-blue liquids.

Nothing wrong with a Cosmopolitan – but a Cosmo isn’t a martini.

[mojave66]

Those of us on the Left Coast get to at y’all because we have a source of the BEST. GIN. EVER EVER EVER.

http://www.anchorbrewing.com/about_us/junipero.htm

Junipero Gin comes from the Garden of God, I kid you not.

Mixed 4:1 with a very good vermouth, shaken and poured over a almond-stuffed olive.

Sheer heaven.

[lee]

@Necros

I opened this thread with a large amount of trepidation, expecting to see discussions of cranberry juice, Godiva chocolate something or other, or strange neon-blue liquids.

Imagine my delight when I saw the thread was actually about gin, vermouth and olives. Amazing.

Then, the vodka people came in and ruined it all. Oh well.

The vodka people are talking about the etc. not about martinis. I don’t care for the bad mouthing of the vermouth either. Nothing wrong with vermouth.

The gin, glasses, and the pitcher are chilling in the freezer. I have lots of little ice cubes. All the rest is waiting for KellyM to get home so I can make her a martini.

[lee]

Wow, stirred is stronger.
I am floating!

Now, I am making french toast for diiner. All the smart people eat toast!

[Ass_For_A_Hat]

@lee

The gin, glasses, and the pitcher are chilling in the freezer.

Gin in the freezer? My, oh my. That ain’t right.

[FordPrefect]

@Ass For A Hat

Gin in the freezer? My, oh my. That ain’t right.

That is why the martini was so much stronger… sad. Well, off for round two… This was an inspiring thread

[Barbarian]

@FordPrefect

Vodka doesn’t deserve to be put in a cocktail glass…

However, I have tried this experiment, probably at your behest in a previous Martini thread. I preferred the shaken over the stirred. I shake semi-violently eleven times for a 4 oz martini, 1/4 oz vermouth and 1 oz cold olive juice. If the juice is warm, as in a new jar of olives, then I shake twelve times. I don’t get ice slivers in my glass so it doesn’t sound like I am shaking as much as some do.

The drink I stirred seemed to be over powered by the gin. Perhaps I should try making it wetter if stirring. I seem to be on the very dry end of the Vermouth scale based on other ratios here.

Personally, I have no need to change my recipe, since it is the perfect mix for me, but I do want to know how to make other variants for my less discerning guests

Yeah, I’m a 3 or 4 to 1 man, not 8 to 1. But I find that even with very high-end gins, shaking makes them taste brutal.

[FordPrefect]

@Barbarian

Yeah, I’m a 3 or 4 to 1 man, not 8 to 1. But I find that even with very high-end gins, shaking makes them taste brutal.

Well, I am a Bombay fan, and the higher end gins that I have read about here I can’t find in my local liquor store. However, if I ever have the privilege of serving you a martini, I will be sure to stir it, not shake it.

[lee]

No, the main reason the martini was stronger was that we both had a full martini tonight, not half a martini each. Many, many people reccomend keeping the gin in the freezer.