What's your favorite martini?

[Kimberly]

I am having one right now and have forgotten how much I love them in moderation of course.

Anyhow, my usual is a sour apple martini but am having a pomegranite one right now that is very good.

Are there any other martini lovers out there and if so what is your favorite? I have a wedding coming up and need suggestions.

 

[CanadaDoll]

Chocolate ones are always good, so are Strawberry Lemon Drops and I've tried a couple with Lychee juice in them that are very nice and fruity

 

[Fletch]

Bomb Bay olives or Absolut twist, up, of course.

 

[vonwotan]

Devils Advocate?

Don't mean to de-rail the discussion - perhaps I will start with a suggestion for the bartenders out there in the world. I do wish they would find new names for their cocktails and not just add -tini at the end.

Growing up around quite a few gentlemen (if one can call lawyers gentlemen) raised in the depression era, I can't escape the conviction that the only true martini is made with gin and a hint of dry vermouth - i.e. swished around the glass and then discarded.

Others may be wonderful drinks, like the negroni, but not martinis.

Cheers!

 

[Kimberly]

Don't mean to de-rail the discussion - perhaps I will start with a suggestion for the bartenders out there in the world. I do wish they would find new names for their cocktails and not just add -tini at the end.

Growing up around quite a few gentlemen (if one can call lawyers gentlemen) raised in the depression era, I can't escape the conviction that the only true martini is made with gin and a hint of dry vermouth - i.e. swished around the glass and then discarded.

Others may be wonderful drinks, like the negroni, but not martinis.

Cheers!

You do bring up a good point. I remember during the Cosmopolitan craze that all kind of new martinis came out (IMO in an attempt to have it appeal to women who may have shyed away from the traditional martini's in the past). I have only had one vodka martini in my life (vodka w/ an olive) and I remember I didn't like it that much. I love gin though and may have to try the gin and vermouth martini.

As to why they put tini at the end of every new cocktail. I think it's because they lack creativity and are just too lazy to come up with a new drink name.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

can't escape the conviction that the only true martini is made with gin and a hint of dry vermouth - i.e. swished around the glass and then discarded.

Others may be wonderful drinks, like the negroni, but not martinis.

Cheers!

Here, here! Well said! I've been to a few restaurants lately that have a full menu of "Martinis" that contain neither gin nor vermouth, and they look at me odd when I say, "Do you think the bartender could make a real Martini - you know, gin & a touch of vermouth?" "No vodka?" "Correct...that would make it a vodkatini, wouldn't it?" The others are cocktails but definitely not Martinis.

 

[Harry Pierpont]

Traditionalist

3oz Tanqueray or Beefeater's 3 drops dry vermouth, that's from an eyedropper, in a shaker over ice, shake 6 times, pour/ strain into a "frozen" martini glass. add an olive.
Enjoy!

 

[Martinis at 8]

What's your favorite martini?...

...any martini attached to a beautiful woman will do

M8

 

[Fletch]

Growing up around quite a few gentlemen (if one can call lawyers gentlemen) raised in the depression era, I can't escape the conviction that the only true martini is made with gin and a hint of dry vermouth - i.e. swished around the glass and then discarded.

Others may be wonderful drinks, like the negroni, but not martinis.

Your mentors may have been raised in the depression era, but I don't imagine they were drinking then. Before the 50s there was no such thing as a dry martini as understood since that time – 3:1 gin:vermouth was about as dry as they got.

About vodkatinis, I drink them not out of any disrespect for tradition, but because I find them damn refreshing. If you're concerned about their being a gateway drug to appletinis, chocotinis, etc., you might want to try the vodka version, very well chilled, on a warm evening. As I said – damn refreshing. Especially if I'm not in the mood for gin (and sometimes I'm not).

 

[The Reno Kid]

I agree that a Martini is not just any alcoholic beverage served up in a cocktail glass. I personally prefer four parts Bombay Gin (the original, not Sapphire) to one part vermouth. One or two olives adds the perfect touch. I've tried "drier" versions but I find I can't taste the vermouth. I like the combination of flavors. Churchill (a man who certainly knew his gin) once opined that the best ratio was obtained by using one part gin and bowing in the direction of France!

I have also found that the brand of vermouth can make a huge difference in the finished product. I've tried several and I always seem to come back to Martini & Rossi. I don't care for Cinzano.

 

[vonwotan]

Quite right Fletch. I have very much enjoyed "vodkatinis" and less dry martinis (depending on the vermouth). My comment was really just regarding the naming convention. There is enough room for interpretation in the "standard" gin martini as it is, so I have to wonder why we don't find names for the many other cocktails out there in the world.

Your mentors may have been raised in the depression era, but I don't imagine they were drinking then. Before the 50s there was no such thing as a dry martini as understood since that time – 3:1 gin:vermouth was about as dry as they got.

About vodkatinis, I drink them not out of any disrespect for tradition, but because I find them damn refreshing. If you're concerned about their being a gateway drug to appletinis, chocotinis, etc., you might want to try the vodka version, very well chilled, on a warm evening. As I said – damn refreshing. Especially if I'm not in the mood for gin (and sometimes I'm not).

 

[Fletch]

Not to yatter on here, but...

Is there really a substantial body of opinion out there that the vodkatini – one of the crispest, clearest, most minimalist drinks ever conceived – shares any kinship whatever with all those fruity, sugary, liqueur-y gimmicks-in-a-glass concocted primarily for their presumed aphrodisiacal effect on vapid yet nubile Greek sorors?

Next thing you'll be telling me they practiced macram?© at the Bauhaus.

[huh]

 

[Fletch]

And von, curse you for being so damned reasonable!!1 And just when I had a dandy comeback all ginned up.

(PUN HONESTLY NOT INTENDED.)

Oh, and Kim, any resemblance implied or inferred between yourownself and said vapid Greek sorors is expressly and vigorously disclaimed.

(Some of my lady friends remember a time when a martini rocks was considered quite stylish.)

 

[vonwotan]

Fletch - had you caught me a few minutes later I might not have been so reasonable. I just discovered that we are out of vermouth! :rage:

 

[Fletch]

Don't panic. I hear WD-40 in trace amounts is an adequate substitute.

lol no, really, please, please, PLEASE don't try that.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

A martini for me has to be extra-dry gin, Boodles or Seagrams with Lime will do, a spritz of extra-dry vermouth, shaken not stirred, two or three olives, served icy cold, even some slivers of ice in it. That's how I make mine.

Once in awhile, I might like a well-made chocolate "martini" for dessert. Chocolate and white chocolate together are good. Those drinks have to be with vodka, I imagine.

karol

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Thanks for asking

My favorite martini is one made by an older gentleman during happy hour. After 12 years and two restaurant bars we still don't know each other's names and I always ask for 'gin martini straight up with a twist'.
My second favorite martini, if I am somewhere else or it is not happy hour, is 'Bombay Sapphire martini straight up with a twist'. I am not fussy. I hate people fussing in restaurants. If I get olives or a lime I don't complain. My second favorite martini is susceptible to change without prior notice, say, Boodles or whatever.
This is the one drink I do not make at home.

 

[RIOT]

Make mine a dry one, nothing fancy, no olive, just straight.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I like mine dirty, with an extra olive.

Or if I'm in the mood for something sweet I like a Tuscan Martini: Grey Goose vodka and Lemoncello. Nothing beats this on a hot summer day!

 

[Chanfan]

Probably should have asked "what's your favorite specialty martini", but I suspect the purists, or just the opinionated (myself included) still wouldn't have been able to resist side railing the thread.

For myself, one of my favorite non-standards is the Smoky 'tini - Gin, splash of scotch (a smoky islay preferred), and a twist.