I agree with this.

I find that restaurants and bars have gone way down in competence. Waiting tables used to be a profession. Now it's a job for people that either are on their way to another career or just for people that have no other marketable skills. Bartenders, most of them, just sling crappy drinks to patrons that only want to get plowed. So many people drink to jest get hammered. I've never done shots in my life. Why would you? And I've lost count of how many bartenders I've had to teach how to make a basic drink like a margarita.

If you go to a real high end restaurant, you can usually still find a good bartender. Beyond that, what you can make at home will be light years better than the crap you get from lesser restaurants.

There are a few places in the world where the art of the cocktail is still practiced by people who are genuine experts in their field (which is very difficult, to be fair, if you seek to do it well) and I have a short list of places I'd like to visit, should I ever find myself back in say, Melbourne, or Tokyo, etc.

I'm not a big drinker. I probably average 1 drink per month over the course of a year. But I do like gin drinks, and the range of flavors that you can get out of gin is impressive, but the main flavor is juniper berries, so gin often smells like a Christmas tree or pine tree.
In my opinion, gin with olives and garlic doesn't sound very tasty. Hell, most cocktails shouldn't involve olives or garlic (and I love both separately or together).
??
Vodka doesn't/shouldn't taste like anything but alcohol. Unless it's flavored, it should just be alcohol with enough water mixed in to dilute it to a given proof. Vodka just exists to get you drunk, that's it.

Correct. Together they are not tasty. Individually? Yes!

The oils from a lemon twist suit very well both the dry vermouth and the gin in a traditional "martini". Both major ingredients are very herbal so the lemon is the obvious play.

Try a real 2:1 - 4:1 gin martini with fresh well-chosen and kept vermouth. With a twist. It should taste neither of gin or vermouth if properly titrated. You don't even need fancy gin - Gordons is quite fine, Bombay (not sapphire) is a nice step up if Tanq is too bold.

Our history museum sells cocktail glasses and shakers with Oppeneimer's supposed martini recipe. 4 oz "good" gin, a "smidge" of dry vermouth, lime wedge and a dash of honey syrup. Glarph, I love gin martinis and I still kind of got an involuntary shudder from typing that.

And from what I understand, Gin is simply vodka flavored with Juniper berries, not distilled Juniper berries. Contrary to popular assumption

Interesting. I'm game to trying that recipe. It sounds tasty.
Interesting. I would have expected gin to be infused due to the amount of juniper flavor in it, but since gin is generally clear, that makes me think that it's likely distilled (because berries and other botanicals are likely to add color). I did a lot of reading on the manufacture of various spirits and the histories of spirits back when I was a bartender, but couldn't remember the details. I did a search and it looks like both are a thing.

What wikipedia has to say on the subject...

VEGAS BABY:
The "Verbana Martini's with a "Szechuan Button" in them are off the charts, they are created @ the Cosmopolitan Hotel/ Chandelier Bar in Las Vegas.

"Apparently, there’s a compound called spilanthol at play. It sets off a reaction along the trigeminal nerve pathway, whatever that might actually be."

This is how you make a proper dry martini

Wife likes dirty martinis. I like them with Bombay and a twist of lemon. I think it is supposed to be 3:1 or 4:1 gin

Tanqueray is just too much for me

The key is the vermouth. Not cheap and not old

I know a pretty funny martini joke, but it would probably get me banned for a couple days.

For the gin lovers here, try Nolet’s gin if you have a chance, it’s the best I’ve ever had. It’s a great sipper just on the rocks. Brockman’s is another fav.

I'll try those, thanks.

This is my current gin. The botanicals include exotic butterfly pea blossoms, discovered in a tea blend served at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, B.C. these blossoms impart a warm herbal note along with a soft texture and blue color. And yes, it's frosty. I keep it in my freezer. :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758887594.jpg

Sounds interesting, thanks. I’ll look for it….unfortunately here in PA we are quite limited for spirits selection (State controlled) so most of my purchases happen out of State.

My parents were born in 1930. In so many movies on the 40s and 50s the characters are high society and drinking martinis. She always thought they looked elegant and was wanting a martini. Dad was just a 1st Lt. and not making much money and my brother was already born when they were invited to a party at a Full Bird Col, house. Not an invite a Lt. turns down.

Anyway they were serving martinis and mom got her first one. She almost choked and she discovered she hated it. Dad told her to just hold it, smile and act like she was sipping it occasionally, and dad swapped glasses and drank mom's for her. They kept handing her a new one, and she just pretended to drink it. Mom was never much of a drinker.

I think this stuff is pretty tasty
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the missus prefers this
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Have you had the Reserve by any chance?

I've been drinking Bombay Sapphire for 20 years. Different taste profile I'm sure but how would you describe the Silver in comparison?

I did similar on business in London. The clients took us out pubbing. Ever eager to impress the American lass with what real beer is, they kept buying me pints of stout, porter, and brown ale. Everyone of which I hated and poured bit by bit into the potted plants when no one was looking.

On a related note, the company not only had a cafeteria, but also an on-site pub. Every day we'd all go to lunch, then the pub. Afterwards, I'd be fairly well inebriated and unable to be very productive. I'd just sit there staring at my computer thinking, how did these people ever run an empire being drunk all the time?

When I toured the Porsche factory i the 80's, I was surprised to see really large bottles of beer in the vending machines. You could end your shift fairly hammered, if that's what floated your boat.

Europeans have an entirely different view of alcoholic beverages than we do.

Back in the 1960s to the 90s the War Bonnet region of PCA here in Oklahoma City held WRB Tech sessions. We had a different Porsche factory speaker attend each year, and make a presentation. Hans Mezger brought a Porsche Tag Turbo engine from the F1 car. He did not bring his wife, and I was single back then. We were seated together at the banquet. After the banquet, I asked him if he wanted to go have a beer in the bar. Of course he was ready. We drank all the St. Pauli Girl beer in the place, and changed to Heineken. At the 2:00 AM closing we had to quit, and I staggered to my room and had to use the walls to stay upright. He was fine. I was still in my 30s and I thought I could drink beer. I learned, never try to stay up with a German drinking beer.

Cisco's campuses in RTP and San Jose had cafeterias that carried beer. They stopped carrying beer because they noticed that productivity went way down after lunch.

Also sold at roadside rest areas.

I've not had the reserve, only the silver. We always have Bombay on hand, that's a go to for us, but the Nolet's is my personal fav - much more botanical and fruity than a Bombay or a Beefeaters (which I prefer for more complex cocktails since it does not get in the way of other ingredients). For a martini or just a sipper, I think Nolet's is superior, but everyone has different tastes. My wife prefers Bombay.

EDIT: I phrased poorly - the Beefeaters I prefer for multi ingredient cocktails. On it's own I prefer Nolet's

Thanks, I'll pick some up when I can.