The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of gin?

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The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of gin?

Post by David94 »

Just wondering what peoples' thoughts are on this. I'm not a huge fan of clear spirits, don't get me wrong, I do like them but much prefer dark rum and scotch. But every time I've seen a Martini made, it seems to be a glass of cold gin with the vermouth just waved somewhere in the general direction of the drink. Am I drinking in the wrong bars or are there subleties I'm missing? Discuss :-)
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Badfellow »

It's definately a classy way of ordering gin, but the Martini is definately in it's own class. The reason vermouth is ususally used so sparingly is because most dry vermouth is either cheap shit or it's been sitting around forever and has taken on that lovely stale cardboard flavor. Personally, I like Noily Prat. There's another out of California named Via that's pretty damn good as well. Don't let it sit around for longer than six months. My preferred mixing ratio is about eight or ten parts gin to one part dry vermouth with a splash of "dirty" from the olive brine.

That's the other thing: the olive. It's a striking garnish, but it's also adding another layer of savory depth as it soaks in your drink, and all the while that little fucker is soaking up gin flavor too which is going to make for a tasty nibble when you've finished the drink. Use good gin, good dry vermouth and good olives, and you'll be hard pressed to go wrong. I love a well made Martini with a fat, charred grilled hamburger and a basket of steak fries.

I would encourage you to give the Martini a chance. Order one at the bar to your preference, or better yet experiment with mixing them at home.
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Judge »

Badfellow wrote:It's definately a classy way of ordering gin, but the Martini is definately in it's own class. The reason vermouth is ususally used so sparingly is because most dry vermouth is either cheap shit or it's been sitting around forever and has taken on that lovely stale cardboard flavor. Personally, I like Noily Prat. There's another out of California named Via that's pretty damn good as well. Don't let it sit around for longer than six months. My preferred mixing ratio is about eight or ten parts gin to one part dry vermouth with a splash of "dirty" from the olive brine.

That's the other thing: the olive. It's a striking garnish, but it's also adding another layer of savory depth as it soaks in your drink, and all the while that little fucker is soaking up gin flavor too which is going to make for a tasty nibble when you've finished the drink. Use good gin, good dry vermouth and good olives, and you'll be hard pressed to go wrong. I love a well made Martini with a fat, charred grilled hamburger and a basket of steak fries.

I would encourage you to give the Martini a chance. Order one at the bar to your preference, or better yet experiment with mixing them at home.
This. I have a friend at my (soon to be ex) local. He comes in everyday at 4pm and has 1 or maybe 2 martinis as described above. Then he leaves. It caps the end of his work day and improves his start to his evening at home with the family. He walks in a happy man every night.
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Palinka (RIP) »

It's nigh impossible to get a proper Martini in the UK (without selling your soul). So, I suggest that you learn how to make it yourself.
The Magazine's recipes can be found by clicking here.
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by David94 »

Ok I'm convinced :-) going out tonight so I'll order one at some point, hopefully this'll.change my mind!
Cheers, David

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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Palinka (RIP) »

David94 wrote:...I'll order one at some point, hopefully this'll.change my mind!...
Be very careful where you order one. As I have noted many times before, in most British pubs, ordering a Martini will get you a glass of straight-up vermouth (or worse, a vermouth with lemonade). There are "proper" cocktail bars around but they tend to be expensive hipster joints. So pick your venue with great care.
Also, do a litlle research, first, so that you aren't stumped by the "twist or olive", "dirty or neat", "shaken or stirred" questions. And do not get side-tracked into "Appletinis" or other abhorrences that take the good name of drinking and trample it in the mire. Even a vodka-Martini isn't really a Martini (as delicious as it is).
In short, young Drunkardist, do your homework, so you can stare the bartender in the eye and tell him or her exactly what you want. Therefore, unless you know of an extremely good, kindly and understanding mixologist, I would advise that you hit a supermarket to get yourself a dry gin, a boftle of dry vermouth (as Badfellow says, Noilly Prat is most likely the best - however, as a first-time Martini drinker, you may find it a taste to be acquired and prefer some other vermouth), a firm lemon (for taking a twist from the zest), a jar of olives* (be sure that they are preserved in brine - olives preserved in oil will ruin your drink), some ice-cube bags and some cocktail sticks (for keeping the olives or the twist tidy) (and maybe some pickled silverskin onions - if you want to try the difference between a Martini and a Gibson). Then head to a kitchenware store and procure yourself a cocktail shaker and a few Martini glasses (and perhaps a short zesting knife and a glass stirring rod - you may decide that you prefer your Marinis stirred rather than shaken; many claim that shaking the cocktail "bruises" the gin). Next, head off to a bookshop to get a few receipes for making Martinis (of place your trust in this Board and/or our parent magazine's website). Finally, head home (where you have the filled ice cube bags, by now frozen, awaiting you in your freezer) and experiment until you find the mixture that best suits your palate.
Having done all this and found the mixture that you like most, you will be able to walk into your cocktail bar of choice, swagger up to the bar, look the bartender in the eye and say, with no little authority, "I'd like a Tanquery/Noilly Prât Martini, very dry, with three olives**, stirred and slightly dirty, please". This will garner you the instant respect of the staff, who hate people who faff about, complain that their drink is too salty (evdn though they asked for it to be extra dirty) or, worst of all, ask, "What's good, today?") It will also impress any potential paramours, to no small degree, when you demonstrate your ability to make a damned good Martini. Last, but very far from least, it will help repopularise a most excellent (some may even go as far as to say, the essential) cocktail - and may prevent hapless tourists, from more sophisticated countries, getting the dreaded vermouth with ice, when they ask for a Martini.
Go to, good luck and most of all, have as much fun as possible whilst experimenting (top tip - using a "dictaphone" app, downloaded to your smartphone, will save you from having to decipher your drunken scrawls, the next day).

* A word about olives. Most Martinis come with the standard brine-preserved, pimento-stuffed olive. However, there are a great many varieties of olives to be had (the only two things that comes close to rules, when it comes to olives for cocktails, are a) they should be pitted - by which I mean that the pit should have been removed - before being preserved, and b) they should be preserved in brine). As I stated, in a previous post, I find that anchovy-stuffed queen olives give a Martini a superb zing. Others prefer their olives stuffed with blue cheese, chili of pickled-mushroom and a great many other things. Go to a delicatessen (a proper one - not one that is really a sandwich shop or some dismal counter in a dank corner of some drear excuse for a supermarket) and have a look at the range of olives on display. Generally speaking, most delicatessens will be happy to allow you to try a few different types. So take advantage of that any when you have found an olive (stuffed, for preference, and preserved in brine, for necessity) buy a tub, also get yourself a tub of standard pimento-stuffed olives (for guests) and ask the person serving you to be generous with the brine - not only will this keep the olives preserved for longer, it will also allow you to experiment with making yourself a "dirty" Martini (a Martini with up to a teaspoonful of the olives' preserving brine mixed in to it).
** Olives should always come in odd numbers (for esoteric, historical reasons). The exception to this is if one has two olives and one pickled silverskin onion.
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by oettinger »

Palinka wrote:It's nigh impossible to get a proper Martini in the UK (without selling your soul). So, I suggest that you learn how to make it yourself.
The Magazine's recipes can be found by clicking here.
Could be worse, you could live here in germany...
They sell olives filled with feta cheese or almond though, but gosh! mostly in oil
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by David94 »

Well tonight, I have bought a bottle of vermouth, a bottle of gin, abottle of vodka and some olives. And after a bit of experimenting, I do have tosay - I am warming to them, think I may have just about got the right ratio of gin/ vodka to vermouth :)

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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by mistah willies »

Welcome David, and well met. Looks like you are beyond your years in your pursuit.

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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Sgt. HSA »

The good Dr. P introduced me to the Gibson martini back in '06. It's been a staple in my drinking repertoire ever since.
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Smatter Noguts »

Palinka wrote:
David94 wrote:...I'll order one at some point, hopefully this'll.change my mind!...
Be very careful where you order one. As I have noted many times before, in most British pubs, ordering a Martini will get you a glass of straight-up vermouth (or worse, a vermouth with lemonade). There are "proper" cocktail bars around but they tend to be expensive hipster joints. So pick your venue with great care.
Also, do a litlle research, first, so that you aren't stumped by the "twist or olive", "dirty or neat", "shaken or stirred" questions. And do not get side-tracked into "Appletinis" or other abhorrences that take the good name of drinking and trample it in the mire. Even a vodka-Martini isn't really a Martini (as delicious as it is).
In short, young Drunkardist, do your homework, so you can stare the bartender in the eye and tell him or her exactly what you want. Therefore, unless you know of an extremely good, kindly and understanding mixologist, I would advise that you hit a supermarket to get yourself a dry gin, a boftle of dry vermouth (as Badfellow says, Noilly Prat is most likely the best - however, as a first-time Martini drinker, you may find it a taste to be acquired and prefer some other vermouth), a firm lemon (for taking a twist from the zest), a jar of olives* (be sure that they are preserved in brine - olives preserved in oil will ruin your drink), some ice-cube bags and some cocktail sticks (for keeping the olives or the twist tidy) (and maybe some pickled silverskin onions - if you want to try the difference between a Martini and a Gibson). Then head to a kitchenware store and procure yourself a cocktail shaker and a few Martini glasses (and perhaps a short zesting knife and a glass stirring rod - you may decide that you prefer your Marinis stirred rather than shaken; many claim that shaking the cocktail "bruises" the gin). Next, head off to a bookshop to get a few receipes for making Martinis (of place your trust in this Board and/or our parent magazine's website). Finally, head home (where you have the filled ice cube bags, by now frozen, awaiting you in your freezer) and experiment until you find the mixture that best suits your palate.
Having done all this and found the mixture that you like most, you will be able to walk into your cocktail bar of choice, swagger up to the bar, look the bartender in the eye and say, with no little authority, "I'd like a Tanquery/Noilly Prât Martini, very dry, with three olives**, stirred and slightly dirty, please". This will garner you the instant respect of the staff, who hate people who faff about, complain that their drink is too salty (evdn though they asked for it to be extra dirty) or, worst of all, ask, "What's good, today?") It will also impress any potential paramours, to no small degree, when you demonstrate your ability to make a damned good Martini. Last, but very far from least, it will help repopularise a most excellent (some may even go as far as to say, the essential) cocktail - and may prevent hapless tourists, from more sophisticated countries, getting the dreaded vermouth with ice, when they ask for a Martini.
Go to, good luck and most of all, have as much fun as possible whilst experimenting (top tip - using a "dictaphone" app, downloaded to your smartphone, will save you from having to decipher your drunken scrawls, the next day).

* A word about olives. Most Martinis come with the standard brine-preserved, pimento-stuffed olive. However, there are a great many varieties of olives to be had (the only two things that comes close to rules, when it comes to olives for cocktails, are a) they should be pitted - by which I mean that the pit should have been removed - before being preserved, and b) they should be preserved in brine). As I stated, in a previous post, I find that anchovy-stuffed queen olives give a Martini a superb zing. Others prefer their olives stuffed with blue cheese, chili of pickled-mushroom and a great many other things. Go to a delicatessen (a proper one - not one that is really a sandwich shop or some dismal counter in a dank corner of some drear excuse for a supermarket) and have a look at the range of olives on display. Generally speaking, most delicatessens will be happy to allow you to try a few different types. So take advantage of that any when you have found an olive (stuffed, for preference, and preserved in brine, for necessity) buy a tub, also get yourself a tub of standard pimento-stuffed olives (for guests) and ask the person serving you to be generous with the brine - not only will this keep the olives preserved for longer, it will also allow you to experiment with making yourself a "dirty" Martini (a Martini with up to a teaspoonful of the olives' preserving brine mixed in to it).
** Olives should always come in odd numbers (for esoteric, historical reasons). The exception to this is if one has two olives and one pickled silverskin onion.
Brilliant stuff, this.

Tanquery a great choice over Beefeaters, I wish I could find a local anchovy stuffed olive 'cause it's usually stuffed Blu Cheese.

Used to get Stock dry vermouth but they seem to have gone out of business.

My cousin Margie had a trick where she would put the vermouth in a small spray bottle and mist the gin as it was poured into a pitcher of ice, stirred gently, and served over the olive in the glass. Or the lemon rind, then the gibson arguments began.

I have to admit this is not my favorite drink as the first one isn't easy to slip into, and the 4th and 5th don't seem to have much taste. And Gin is...Gin.

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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Badfellow »

Yes, my quasi-ex is an olive, cheese and chocolate monger.

We have attempted to stuff Cali and Medi olives with many things savory: Blue cheese, pickled peppadew and jalapeno, diced cottage bacon, ground cooked venison with Sarawak peppercorn and miso paste, white anchovy fillets and Marconi peppers. I have forgotten more cultivars of olives than I have the better gins in my sluggings.


This is a personal question. PLEASE, don't feel obligated to answer it.
Have you ever shaken and poured a Martini while in the act? And by the "act" I mean sex. A cigarette and an ashtray are bad enough.
But mixing a drink?

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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Dale »

David94 wrote:Just wondering what peoples' thoughts are on this. I'm not a huge fan of clear spirits, don't get me wrong, I do like them but much prefer dark rum and scotch. But every time I've seen a Martini made, it seems to be a glass of cold gin with the vermouth just waved somewhere in the general direction of the drink. Am I drinking in the wrong bars or are there subleties I'm missing? Discuss :-)
David
I also like Rum a lot. And if the Martini was prepared by waving the Vermouth in the general direction of the Gin the Martini was prepared perfectly.
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by booznik »

Ah, the Martini. The cocktail that pretty much defines cocktail, and gave us the glass we associate with "up" drinks. When made with gin they can be a work of art; not so much a fan of the vodka version. I find that the perfect Martini comes from how complex gin itself is as a spirit. However, the snobbery that goes along with the drink can be a bit much.

- Stirred
- Shaken
- Rocks

All are Martinis. Debating between them and bringing in James Bond as if he is a negative thing, is ridiculous. Enjoy them how you like them. Also: gin does not "bruise". Anyone claiming this should receive a bruise.

And never denigrate a shaken Martini due to James Bond. Can you drink 6 of them, and then chase the villain on foot and shoot straight? I think NOT.
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Re: The Martini - just a classy way of ordering a glass of g

Post by Frankennietzsche »

Dale wrote:
David94 wrote:Just wondering what peoples' thoughts are on this. I'm not a huge fan of clear spirits, don't get me wrong, I do like them but much prefer dark rum and scotch. But every time I've seen a Martini made, it seems to be a glass of cold gin with the vermouth just waved somewhere in the general direction of the drink. Am I drinking in the wrong bars or are there subleties I'm missing? Discuss :-)
David
I also like Rum a lot. And if the Martini was prepared by waving the Vermouth in the general direction of the Gin the Martini was prepared perfectly.
I beliebe that this was Churchill's preferred method.
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