Thursday, August 27, 2009
Drinks Dry Idea: Just Thinking About Martinis
Posted by Carrington Fox on Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 6:53 AM
Underscoring how far removed my life is from any sort of shiny Sex in the City* cocktail-swilling existence, the most cosmopolitan experience I've had with my BFFs lately was a conversation about martinis. It was at lunch. A very dry lunch.
My sexy friend endorsed Morton's martini--Finlandia, straight up, couple of olives, a little dirty--as one of the best in town. With icy shards on top and blue cheese optional, she called it "a meal."
My no-nonsense friend nodded to Bound'ry. She wasn't so specific about the brand of vodka--and yes, we were talking vodka--but we agreed the presentation with the tiny carafe cooling in a separate glass of ice water is always a nice trick. Sure, you could chill your drink on the cold plate at Bound'ry's bar, but the dramatic two-vessel delivery offers the decadent reassurance that, when you finish what's in the glass, there's still more left.
As for me, the last martini I imbibed was Bricktop's watermelon version. Vibrant with pink fruit pulp and rimmed with sugar, it was the ultimate knickerdropper. (The house dirty martini, made with Gilbey's vodka and three huge olives, was no slouch either.)
For those of us who only get a few chances to indulge, help us make good drink decisions. You know, for example, when you get together with your BFFs for a sober reminiscence about your favorite cocktails, what martinis do you talk about?
*I am taking applications for a more updated pop-cultural reference for thirtysomething** working women who use the F-word a lot.
**I am also taking applications for a much more updated pop-cultural reference for people between ages 30 and 39 grappling with the existential questions of what it means to work, be married and raise children, bla, bla, bla.
Comments (40)
Showing 1-40 of 40
for me, it's gin and only gin
vodka HAS NO TASTE
make mine a hendricks martini with a twist
thank you
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Can we please quit calling things martinis that aren't martinis? Watermelon? Oh, I need a cold compress on the forehead just to think about that.
I'm with Claudia on the gin. But I like Boodles.
After years of rejecting gin due to the fact that I swilled the cheap stuff in college chased with lime juice from a plastic citroid, I have begun to rediscover the good hooch.
Having overcome the memories of the aroma of Pine-Sol, a good friend introduced me to Hendricks. I may never drink vodka again.
The St. Germaine/Hendricks concoction with a basil leaf floater I had at Grille 1808 yesterday was outstanding! For 14 bucks, it had better be...
Another vote for gin. My go to is Bombay Original, but I'm really enjoying this bottle of No. 209 right now.
CLC--Right on. I don't drink gin as a consequence of one night in college that involved a glass of gin. And when I say glass, I really mean giant Solo cup. And when I say gin, I mean warm rot-gut liquor of somewhere near 80 proof that was apparently legally allowed to be labeled as gin. It took days of extra-strength Tylenol, gallons of Gatorade and untold calories of fried food to ease the pain of that boozy misstep. Interestingly, for every woman I know who endorses switching to gin from vodka, I know another who says she migrated from gin to vodka because juniper made her a mean drunk. Clearly, this is going to take more research, possibly at 1808.
I'm with Barbara -- just because it's served in a cocktail glass does not make it a martini.
My favorite is a small-batch gin from Oregon called Cascade Mountain, but we can't get it here, so I make do with Hendrick's or Plymouth, garnished with cocktail onions, which technically makes it a gibson rather than a martini.
I read this post on the main page and thought, good grief, can we please stop this masquerade and will someone please remind the drinking public a martini is made of GIN and a cocktail of seventeen thousand other names is made with vodka?
and then I came to the comments. And I feel a little better, espeically knowing Claudia is on the same wavelength. :)
I get that we'll never get a bartender to give you ice water with an onion when you order a Gibson, but couldn't we please agree that if you order a martini with vodka, that someone behind the bar will gently remind you that you are not getting a martini at all ? It's like claiming your Camry is a muscle car, or believing your boca burger made the dog jealous or ordering a frittata at the Loveless...If you go to a football game and it starts raining, you stay in your seat and get wet - by god, if you order a martini you should get gin.
Although I agree on principle to the hate heaped upon appletinis-chocolatinis and the like... why all the scorn'd on Vodka Martinis?? They're cleaner-tasting and far more drinkable than the gin ones. That's what I've been drinking since the 80's. And I have to thanks James Bond for that.
The word gin reminds me of WC Fiedls bulbous alkie nose.
Gin makes me feisty, although it can migrate to mean if I drink enough of it. And yes, Hendrick's all the way. Yum.
Has anyone tried the Corsair gin sold here in town at Midtown? I noticed it behind the bar at City House as well...
tandy told me that corsair, currently made in kentucky will be moving into where yazoo currently resides in marathon village...
Plymouth (gin) martini for me, with a spritz of vermouth and one olive (no juice). Yum.
We're semi-hostile because it's like saying you'll have a beer and then asking for pub cider. I like the taste of (or lack thereof) vodka, too, but if I want a martini I want a martini. It's like saying I'll have a Dr. Pepper, but please use Coke...
And if you want to quibble over James Bond trivia, he first had whisky on the rocks, then his own invention, the Vesper, combining gin AND vodka (but a 3:1 ratio) with some wine called Kina Lillet, and then proceeded to order 16 gin martinis and 19 vodka martinis throughout the rest of Fleming's output.
Cat and dogs, living together. It appears we have irreconcilable differences on this particular beverage matter, but surely we can reach consensus that cotton candy-flavored milk (see today's Bites thread about improving school lunches) is an abomination. How can we get rid of that?
Yes, Corsair is made in Kentucky but the guys are from Nashville and thanks to a law passed by the general assembly this year they will be able to move the distillery down here soon. There was an article in the Tennessean about this awhile back.
I've tried the gin and the vanilla bean vodka and they are delicious in everything I've put them in. Great local product!
thanks for the Bond drinking trivia - it'll go well with a martini drinking game.
the most unfortunate thing about Bond and the cocktail with vodka and vermouth is the classic line that *everyone* remembers is "vodka martini, shaken, not stirred." that, and the fact that Bond has never had a true martini on the big screen, only encourages the misconception.
martini drinkers of the world, Unite!
wow, i can't believe i've never heard of corsair before. i'll have to check it out!
Carrington, you're on. Vodka martinis rule.
I've never read a Fleming book, but I'm a huge fan of the onscreen version. I think of the opening credits, and grow tumescent with lust.
I'm guessing that vodka MARTINIS outsell gin ones by a monster margin. And if all-you-all wanna get all nostalgic on what a 'real" martini is, the original recipe had a nearly-inedible amount of dry vermouth.
far more drinkable, el zorro? good lord... vodka is for drinking in shots to get the job done. just ask the russians. vodka is also particularly useful for alcoholics who want to be discreet. also good as an ingredient for making liqueur.
www.drinkdogma.com/why-vodka-sucks/
or as ruhlman says: the vodka martini (in which America lives up to its reputation as premier foister of mediocrity on an unthinking world).
sl - i'll say it again. you're a damn fine writer. are you on facebook?
This topic is a really great one.
We, at The Patterson House, make the martini in its "classic" form. 2 parts gin to 1 part vermouth. We use plymouth gin and dolin dry vermouth in our house martini.
People look at us like we are crazy when we explain it to them, however, we have found that most people seem to like our gin martini more than the vodka martini they get elsewhere.
Also, vermouth is just like wine, it goes bad after a short amount time. It helps to get small bottles, keep them refrigerated and make sure it's fresh or the martini experience can be a bad one.
beng - i was just in chicago at a restaurant, blackbird. the bartender made me a negroni - the best i ever had - and told me the very same thing regarding vermouth.
i never knew... but now i know - and i am a changed woman.
ps. i've been told by paulius at the velvet tango room in cleveland - plymouth for martini's. but i love hendrick's so...
Claudia, perhaps you're forgetting that is is MY opinion that Vodka is more drinkable, and that vodka martinis are superior to gin ones. Oh, and I had no idea what-so-ever that Russians drank the stuff to git drunk! Where did you get that priceless info? Encyclopaedia ElDrunko?
Now, if Rulhman said that he's coming across as a colossal ass. Despite our shortcomings, American culture is our number one export, and the cultural currency of the world. I am constantly amazed at the myriad forms it takes: from Transformers to Michael Clayton, Britney Spears to Leonard Coehn, Tim LaHaye to Cormac McCarthy, Leno toLetterman. We are the fertile ground in which creativity blooms at a pace unrivaled anywhere else in the world.
And if "vulgar" vodka martinis be one of those exports be it.
Hendricks Gin is an amazing product. We use it all the time in our cocktails and the response is always great.
Negroni at Blackbird..I am going to have to try it out next time I am in Chicago. They do a great job on food and drinks there.
It is clear to me from this "conversation" that I do not like martinis. I hate gin. I like vodka. I like good vodka straight and shitty vodka mixed and in a glass that won't knock over when I reach for it.
"I get that we'll never get a bartender to give you ice water with an onion when you order a Gibson"
Oh, I love that someone else knows that!
vodka is odorless and tasteless consisting of mostly water and ethanol.
some are smoother due to the filtration process
i don't think that this is arguable...
but that's just MY opinion and every single bartender or connoisseur of liquer - of which i am neither.
as for ruhlman's statement. i could not agree more. exceptions? sure...
el zorro, obviously my reference to russians getting drunk on vodka was offensive to you. fyi, i believe the russian president himself has referred to this issue as a national disaster - as in just a few months ago.
www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE57B4KC20090812
so go have yourself a vodka martini and by all means enjoy it. i assure you that i won't lose any sleep...
For the Hendricks' fans (I know it may seem obvious) but cucumber garnish >>> twist in your martini.
Ran out and bought some Corsair yesterday night. Very smooth, very pricey. I believe it was $19 for 375mL which prices it higher than maybe anything else we've discussed.
Old Raj (available at Frugal McD's) is very tasty and pretty pricey as well.
GIN
Vodka is when you want the other flavors in the drink to come forth. It's an alcoholic BASE - at best.
Afterall, Americans as a whole could never be accused of having fine taste buds.
see? now i want to do a gin taste test!
hendricks
boodles
plymouth
corsair
bombay sapphire
old raj
and tanqueray and beefeaters too
could be a scary ending though...
Don't forget Martin Miller, too! Hayman's Old Tom is oddly sweet and better suited for cocktails rather than straight up. Zuidam is terrible unless one likes a cuminy flavor in one's gin.
Yes, I drink gin exclusively. This may the only topic ever in this forum where I am an authority. Please note that I generally drink these straight up, ymmv.
Personal rankings:
old raj
corsair
hendricks
miller's
juniper green
plymouth
bombay dry
---everything else---
hayman's
sapphire
tanqueray (and 10)
zuidam (seriously icky)
