Let’s make some Martinis!
 

This lock-down has inspired me to learn to make a great martini.

First I need some classic martini glasses. I just looked for my old vintage ones and apparently they didn’t make the move to wine-country. The ones I used to find are huge. Now shopping online is problematic. I can’t get a size reference. My old ones were smaller. Delicate almost. Any recommendations?

Maybe I’ll just punt at crate and barrel website.

Gin. I like tanqueray and Hendricks.

What about a dry vermouth? Are they all similar?

I’ll get a bar spoon when I order the glasses. What else? Mixing glass and that bar strainer thing?

Let’s do this

My favorite is the Vesper (James Bond Casino Royal) - 3 parts Gin, 2 parts vodka, 1 part Lillet blanc. Chill the glass in the freezer first. My preferred gin is Gin Mare from Europe. Also, try a Gibson as it’s a thing of beauty. You’ll need cocktail onions.

Delicate glasses are great. Large thin spindly fragile glasses are my favorite, but thick heavy glasses of any kind suck. Part of the martini experience is the glass. Small is fine. Heavy - yuck.
You need a shaker, you can’t stir a decent martini. Tangueray is my choice, but that is a matter of taste (Beefeaters sucks IMHO).
Fill the glass with ice and water and let it chill. Put 2 oz of gin in the shaker with lots of ice. Shake the hell out of it. Pour the ice water out of the glass. Put some vermouth in the glass, swirl it around to coat the glass, dump it out. Stab a couple of pimento stuffed olives with a toothpick and drop them in the glass. Pour in the ice cold gin, hopefully there will be some slivers of ice with it.
It’s what I call perfection.

Any very dry white wine works, you don’t need any specific vermouth. My favorite bar tender waves the vermouth bottle around the glass three times for a dry martini - never pulls the cork out. So the vermouth component is not very important to optional IMHO.

Purists will complain. The Stray Dog is a classic at my house. You are all welcome.

Ingredients

Splash of Pernod, ouzo or other licorice-flavored spirit
1 ½ ounces vodka
1 tablespoon Cointreau
1 ½ teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 ounce pomegranate juice (fresh or Pom Wonderful brand)



Preparation

Splash some Pernod in a chilled cocktail glass, swirl it around well, then dump it out. Add ice to a cocktail shaker and pour all remaining ingredients into it. Shake and strain into glass.

I never did master the Martini. I found that I like Vodka Martinis more than gin. But I like gin drinks, so no Martinis for me. The only thing I can offer is that you MUST include at least one pimento olive, but it's much much better if you do one little onion, olive, onion, and olive. The best part of the drink is eating those olives and onions.

LWK, if you ever want to go drinking sometime - count me in!

I was just about to say vodka martini, but your one is waaaay better than mine.

The best gin is...... New Amsterdam for the price
if you can find.... St Georges #1
..... Uncle Vals #1 Too
Italian brand ...... Malfly awesome
we drink it neat.... the only way.........

Been drinking this combination for years, don't have a good name for it yet. At home we just call it 'Bob'. Every time I have a bartender to make one for me, I ask them to suggest a name. Winner so far comes from a bartender in the lobby bar of the Omaha Hilton who also raises horses -- he called it "Dale Threw a Shoe".

1/2 Bombay Sapphire
1/2 Belvedere vodka

Shaken over ice, served neat in a chilled glass. Garnish to taste, but I prefer either garlic-stuffed queen olives or homemade cocktail onions (thanks to Micah at the Red Star Tavern in Portland, OR).

My mom said growing up in the WW2 years and watching movies of the high society they were often looking elegant and sophisticated with a martini in hand. So she figured that must be a great drink. At the first officers party they were invited to, dad was a Lt. with fresh pilot wings. Dad was in his dress uniform, and mon had some new dress with the gloves and hat in the early 1950s era.

Someone asked he if she wanted a drink, so of course a Martini was what she ordered. She had never had one, and very little alcohol ever in her life. She took one sip and used up all her composure to not do a massive spit take right in front of everyone. She managed to keep composure and smiled and handed the Martini to dad, and he enjoyed it. She was never a drinker. Once glass of wine and she was massively drunk and hated it.

Some good info here:

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-a-classic-martini-240334

Don’t forget the Tequila Martini.
I like a nice smooth Blanco.
Shake it and stuff your olive with a jalapeño.

As for a nice thin martini glass making it perfect , you nailed it.

Often times the proper glass really makes the drink. For my single malts I use a thick bottomed square glass with a nice hefty feel. It makes a great sound when you drop a rock into it from the right height. So yes a delicate glass for a martini is perfect. Just remember, don't shake the mix with ice, just stir it.

this guy dumbed it down as well.

stirred martini.

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I kinda prefer vodka martinis as well (Tito's or Goose) but as far as gin goes, I recently had some Green Hat gin out of DC, and I was quite impressed. I generally stick to Beefeater, Hendriks or Blue Coat, but definitely give Green Hat a try if you come across it anywhere.

As for how to make a perfect martini....such an individual thing. Entire books have been written on the subject. I prefer a vodka gimlet most of the time (unless I'm having a beer).

Yup that's the one for me, though you can leave out the zest.

I wouldn't like one of his martinis. I like shaking it, it breaks up the ice and if you do it perfectly there are little slivers of ice in the glass. Lemon zest? Uh, no.

Somewhat off topic...

My uncle built this "boat" - Shaken not Stirred - a few years ago.

https://www.heraldcourier.com/news/man-turns-ski-boat-into-james-bond-car/article_f6a78a25-32c6-57de-814a-5983dfb767d6.html

This is what I have, 7 1/2 inches tall, weighs about 4 ounces, the thickness of the glass is .045 inches:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1587150125.jpg

I find a better use for them is delivering a Cosmopolitan or a Lemon Drop down the gullet of an attractive female.

That's why beer is so much better. Out of the bottle, out of a can, in a mug, in a solo cup, it's all good. SmileWavy

good advice so far, all I can add is if Hendrick's is your gin of choice (it is mine), a muddled cucumber is a great addition, a slice of cucumber on the rim of the glass helps, skip the olives.

Vermouths can vary a fair amount, just like Gin. Try a few, but avoid the really cheap ones.

The sound of logic and reason!

Beer is best! I would rather have a can of Coors Light or PBR or any cheap beer than the very best wine on the planet. But, yea, I am weird. I have never once tasted wine and thought wow, they is good. Same for Gin, Vodka, or a lot of liquor.

It is impossible to beat Erdinger Dunkle in my opinion and I have never had a Martini I liked.

Tomorrow - there will be martinis.

We've been slowly finishing our media room for two years. All door trim and baseboards are stained and cut and fitted into place. We just need to get some trim screws tomorrow and touch up the stain and the friggin' room is finally DONE.

Oh yes, there will be martinis...

... and they all play together differently. A bigger gin will need a bigger, or more, vermouth to balance it. Done properly it should taste of neither gin or vermouth. This takes much (moderately applied) practice.

And for gods sakes keep your vermouth in the fridge. It's perishable! Up your usage by using it in cooking - it can often be used in place of dry sherry as it's just a herbal-enhanced fortified white wine.

BTW you're all wrong and complete savages. Plymouth gin, Noilly Prat vermouth, 5:1, three shakes orange bitters. Stir until the tin frosts over. Serve up in a cocktail stem or champagne coupe. Lemon twist garnish.

Thrift shops and antique stores are great sources for cheap old "champagne" glasses (coupes) that work well for cocktails. You can grab mismatched sets for like $1/stem and never worry about breaking one. The 8oz+ "modern" cocktail glasses are better suited for plating a fancy dessert IMO.

Old School Martin
5 parts Bombay Blue Saphire
1 part dry vermouth
3 olives
one shake bitters

I am a savage --I like mine on the rocks
There is no such thing as a vodka martini...............

I wasn't going to bring that up.

No chocolate martinis either.

My apologies to the Martini purists.....
My fav;
3 shots Grey Goose
.25 shot Martini and Rossi Extra Dry Vermouth
Shaken then strained into a chilled martini glass.
Add 2 teaspoons of olive brine, garnish with a Jalapeno / garlic stuffed olive!
Delicious!

I prefer mine wet and dirty:

2 parts Khortytsa Platinum vodka (Ukraine and cheap)
1 part Noilly Prat dry vermouth
splash of olive juice
1 pimento stuffed olive

I'm usually too lazy to shake it, so I keep the vodka in the freezer and the vermouth in the fridge.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1587570109.jpg

i love a dirty martini.

probably because i like to say, "dirty".

So what are the good Vermouths? I have been guilty of using the cheap stuff (hangs head in shame) and could therefore use some education.

Apparently there are a couple ways to do this...


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1584288236.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1585542379.jpg

I've only tried the few I can get at my local liquor store and they've all been relatively cheap. My favorite is Noilly Prat and second is Dolin. If all the store has is Martini and Rossi at least I know I'm supporting a company that supports racing.

This could have been a fun thread.
Then Island had to crap on it.

Can’t we just talk about martinis?

i'm gonna wait until i can go into some store to see martini glasses.

i think i want something with a 5oz capacity. so small.

and i will do a bar mixing glass, that cool spoon, and that strainer thing. i have a shaker cup thing if i deem that is the way i want to go.

when ready, we can all do a toast to good friends on ZOOM!

An FYI. I read about people drinking and working yesterday. Though. Wow! I would never do that.

Poured me a glass of wine at 3:30 and I can say it was frickn genius!!!

(Not an alcoholic...)

Disregard the (post deleting) cockwomble.

The Martini. Such a simple thing and yet so intricate.....

Done a lot of research on this subject. There are four elements to a Martini - gin, vermouth, botanical and - temperature. The flavour profile of different gins is complimented by different botanicals and vermouth. (Have found that better/more expensive gins do not neccessarily make better martinis.) The ratios of all these matter a lot. Using olives, add some of the olive brine. Lemon, wipe the finely cut skin around the glass impart lemon oil. Cucumber is another great variation. Vermouths. Traditional recipes call for 1 part to 4 or 5 of gin. Everybody has gone through the phase of just threatening the gin with vermouth - but we now use more, not less. Recommend both -quite different - Lillett and Noily Prat vermouth.

And then there is temperature. Glasses in the freezer, how the ice is crushed, time in the shaker.....dont bruise the gin.

Anyway, its a journey.... Mud in your eye.

Excellent. Dilution is critical as well - water is another important component of the cocktail that people overlook.

And as to cheap gin... I think Gordons makes a fine martini, and the bottle bounces when you drop it!

What is “bruised gin?” I put mine in a shaker and shake the hell out of it. I like the little slivers of broken ice. What am I doing to the gin that’s so bad?