+1 for Hendricks but also Tanqueray 10.
And +1 for the guy whose uncle peeled the lemon.
Best martinis are in London, fyi.
And they should never be shaken; just stirred.

I could agree with that. I tell them to put in the vermouth then dump it out. Add gin. Perfect!

I like my dry.martini dry... the less vermouth the better, but the essence must be there. =)

If you want a glass of gin you should order a glass of gin. A Martini, by definition, includes at least a drop of vermouth.

Favorite martini
 

We had dry vodka martinis at our hotel bar in the Seychelles that were simply outstanding. So much variability in such a simple cocktail. We haven't had better anywhere, so want to open it up - if you have a favorite recipe, please post! I'm actually curious if anyone still drink these, or if it's popularity is fading, like my parents' favorite cocktails from the 40's.

A martini is gin and vermouth, shaken and served up with a twist or olives (though I had a waitress once tell me a martini did not include olives - now THAT'S a purist!). The exact right proportion of vermouth is critical. The modern attitude that one can get the vermouth by simply looking towards France completely misses the point.

Hemingway liked his martinis with a 15:1 gin:vermouth ratio. As late as the 1930s, a martini would have been 4:1, with a couple drops of orange bitters. I think somewhere around 7:1 is perfect...at that proportion, it becomes something more than just gin and vermouth.

A martini does not include vodka. And a martini is CERTAINLY not one of these sugar-laden promoters of tooth decay that is garishly colored and served in a cocktail glass. Gfunkdave has spoken.

:)

What can I say, it's kind of an East European thing - if we're out of vodka it's a bad day!

Given that, I'm going to guess you have a preferred brand of gin?

Heh, fair enough.

In martinis, I like Plymouth gin. The juniper doesn't overpower the taste like it does in other styles of gin. Hendricks is also not bad, if you're in the mood for cucumber.

In a gin and tonic, a London dry gin (Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire, etc) is fine.

A true martini is stirred, not shaken.

Favorite martini
 

Not necessarily stirred as much as swirled - you don't want to bruise the alcohol of choice but still need to allow for a bit of friction. One key thing a lot of people seem to forget is to use frozen (as in, stored in a freezer, not the state of matter as it wouldn't freeze anyway as we all know :-) gin or vodka. As it's meant to be enjoyed over a longer period of time than a typical cocktail, you want your liquor of choice to stay as cold as possible for the length of time it takes you to drink it!

Pace! :D Even I don't go that far - but yes, to some, a martini that is shaken is properly referred to as a Bradford.

Stirred vs shaken actually does result in a noticeably different taste. Sometimes you feel like a nut...

Interesting - I'd never considered storing gin in the freezer. Vodka, of course, but not gin.

Were it not for Ian Fleming's literary hero, we would never have had a stirred vs. shaken debate. If ever legend started by one man, Fleming's the one.

Most older US Martini drinkers, around in the 50s and early 60s, were weaned from the breast to Gordon's gin, and the advent of the US popularity of even such now ell known 'names' as Tanqueray and Beefeaters' are relatively modern (early 60s) phenomena. These days, there are more gin choices (with flavors and aromas ranging from the "almost vodka" to fruity, citrony or "more juniper than sauerbraten") than there are good barmen.

Vodka crept into Martinidom in the 50s, and as with the Ice Age, like a glacier it creeps further and further. Dry Vermouth was in tradition referred to by barmen (& barwomen of whom there were fewer) and regular drinkers as "French" (as in "Gin & French"), evidence that only the hoi polloi and tradesmen would employ dry Vermouth from Italy or California. Thanks to Somerset Maugham and other traditionalists, Noilly Pratt (which has gone through a couple of formula changes) was the brand of choice, at least until Fleming's hero chose a non-Vermouth, Kina Lillet, to confuse the issue.

Then there's "Pink Gin", a 3 hour non-credit course at the School of Hard Drinking", where Gin & Tonic comes with no ice and no lime.

Okay, educate me since I'm more of a wine guy. Our martinis we had at the bar had a very distinctive nutty taste - what would give them that flavor?

Interesting that you referenced my favorite author - I think I've read nearly his entire collection.

One of these days I'm going to start a thread about celebrated artists and luminaries from the past who would be in jail for the rest of their lives were they alive today and had the same predilections

There's a delightful book called How's Your Drink? by Eric Felten, which is all about different cocktails and their histories. Everyone reading this thread should read the book. Felten actually mentions Kina Lillet in the Vesper as dictated by Bond in one of the Fleming novels. He says it's a rare cocktail slipup for Fleming, who was a devoted drinker and generally knew his stuff.


I too am more of a wine guy, actually. Beer comes a distant third for me. My take on the difference between shaken and stirred is that a shaken martini has more of what I've heard best described as an icy bite. A stirred one is more like liquid velvet. But both cases require the correct proportion of gin to vermouth. Too much or too little vermouth, and the martini loses its je ne sais quoi.

Please do! Sounds interesting.

At an old restaurant I use to work at, we would infuse pineapple in gin for a week and use that to make a pineapple martini. Included vermouth, a twist, hint of orange liquor and if wanted, a piece of that pineapple. My fav.

Sapphire and Gallo vermouth -3 gin to 1 vermouth garnished with olives

My favorite is a basic martini at whatever hotel lounge after a long (and hopefully successful) day. The bonus is olives count as vegetables!

Definitely important to keep ones Vitamins and anti-oxidants up!! ;)

Still gotta go with the Cosmo

Martinis can be made with vodka, especially in this day and age where they are the norm in many places there's no need to be puritanical.

I had a great Vodka martini made with Russian Imperia in Paris which was the equal of the very best Gin Martinis I've ever had.

That said, in general I prefer to drink vodka on the rocks, maybe with a twist of lemon and use Gin in my martinis. My preferred style is an in-and-out Martini - wash the glass with vermouth and tip it out. Then fill with cold gin (Tanqueray 10, usually about 75mL), and use a couple of olives on a cocktail skewer as a swizzlestick to keep gently stirring.

Usually I drink these like water and can down 5 in my first hour, but if the occasion calls for savouring it, get yourself one of these:

http://awesomedrinks.com/collections...rtini-set-of-2

Fill the bowl with ice water and you can keep your martini chilled for ages.

I much prefer vodka, it just seems lighter. A drop of Noily Prat and most certainly shaken to take the temperature down quickly and with the least water dilution. Twist of lemon peel - no olive please.

I was once insistently called "Oliver Twist!" "Oliver Twist!" on a Delta flight for several moments until I realised I was being offered a choice ........Great friends divided by a common language.:-:

Anything with Grey Goose ..

Very slightly dirty Grey goose.

Mexican Martini at Trudy's in Austin, TX

martinis don't contain vodka

Yours doesn't. Mine does. What upsets you pleases moi.;)

Correct.

Yes. And your drink is called a "vodka martini"... kind of like a "lamb burger" is a burger not made with ground beef but rather lamb. :D

Nothing wrong with either I'll add.

My two favorite martinis are:

1. Hayman's (Old Tom) stirred with high quality dry vermouth. With a twist.
2. Old Raj shaken solo and then poured into a very cold martini glass where the vermouth has been added, swirled and then tossed out. With a twist.

Your drink #2 isn't a martini. It's straight gin with a twist in a dirty cocktail glass. Nothing wrong with that, but a martini is gin and vermouth.

Arguments about martinis resemble nothing so much as arguments about religious doctrine, say the nature of Christ. Everyone is sure of his (and it's almost always a guy holding forth) opinion, and regards others as heretical. I can never tell what sect a bartender belongs to, and rarely order the drink in a bar.

Or it's a VERY dry martini! ;)

To your point, I also rarely order a martini at a restaurant or bar for the exact same reasons you mention - you never know what the bartenders take on the drink is going to be.

Upscale Martini - 1960 style
 

1962 - My first Martini in Europe, along with my first exposure to European wealth and sophistication, occurred in Rome, a chance encounter and an invitation to dinner, far more of a dinner than I, 22 and not near so worldly as hoped, had cause to expect.

Fir this forum, the Martini will suffice.....

Chilled stemmed glass and shaker, pristine ice fresh from the freezer, Vodka (Viennese Monopolova, bottle encased in ice), Lillet (not Vermouth, close but far more intense flavors), 5/1, a twist, olives served alongside, the little ones with pits in a saucer.

In terms of the classics, you can't go wrong with the Duke's martini:
http://londonunveiled.com/2013/01/17/dukes-bar/

I know this is blasphemy to some, but I don't like gin martinis. Now, a Chopin Vodka martini with a twist...now there's a drink!

Is vodka now the default for martinis in the US? It seems like I have to say "gin", or bartenders won't even ask, they will go straight to vodka.

Probably depends what kind of bar it is.

Yes. Unfortunately. But honestly, if you're ordering a martini call your liquor anyway. I'd never say "give me a martini please" and pay $12+ for the house gin or vodka.

Maybe if it's a bar that only serves gin :). Even at swanky cocktail bars, if you didn't specify they'd probably ask if you wanted vodka or gin. Put another way, there probably aren't many places in the US where the "default" is gin.

And it will just be vodka stirred/ shaken with ice if you ask for it dry unless you manage to convey to the bartender what a European/ global dry martini is.

My wife recently met a friend for dinner and, while waiting, ordered a vodka (don't blame me) martini from the bar. She received the martini and a side...kind of like you get a small beer back with a bloody mary. Thinking it odd, but assuming it was the vermouth so she could stir in her own level of "wet", she asked the bartender, who informed her they don't carry vermouth and their "martinis" are just vodka. So she received a glass of vodka - with olives - and a side of vodka. Personally, if I were there, I would have then asked for a glass of club soda and a lime on the house!

I think gin tastes like perfume & I am a vodka girl all the way. But what kind of restaurant/bar doesn't carry vermouth??? and serves a martini with a side of vodka? That is so strange.

It actually did happen to me! I got a shaken vodka no vermouth. I was surprised anyone could think that is a martini. I didn't get the side of vodka, which is really strange. But after that, I started experimenting with what happens when I order without adding any instructions, and my observations led to that question. Now I know.

While I respect that, when it comes to a martini, I think you should have to do the extra talking, not me. :)