How do you like your martini?

It’s good to know the correct nomenclature!

You know what, you’re absolutely correct but for me it’s stirring all the way so I didn’t consider the alternative! I’ll see if I can add it as a poll.

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  • Shaken
  • Stirred

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I like a dry martini. One or two, at the most. Three, I’m under the table. Four, I’m under the host.

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Classic Dorothy, definitely not a lightweight :cocktail::cocktail::cocktail::cocktail::joy:

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I love martinis. While I love @linguafood 's list, my new favorite is Isle of Harris, another great Scottish gin with a marvelous touch of sugar kelp. My daily gin is regular Tanqueray. My standard recipe is putting a couple of Nick and Nora glasses in the freezer to chill while I build the martinis. I use a 3:1 ratio with Dolin dry and garnish with a large, stuffed Spanish olive, no brine. I have been known to rinse the olives. I like shaken (about thirty seconds) or stirred (about forty-five seconds). A bit of melt water is a proper part of a martini IMO. Shaken and stirred do have noticeable taste and, obviously, temperature differences.

Every now and then I happen across a gin that is super delicate. I believe a martini ought to have a sturdy flavor. In those instances, I leave the Dolin in the fridge and grab the Vya.

Two other recommendations to take or leave as you will. St. George Terroir is Christmas in a bottle. I think Bombay white makes a far better martini than Sapphire. Actually I prefer it in G and Ts and Negronis, too.

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Make mine a Gibson.

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It is curious how drink legend changes. When I was much younger a Gibson was one jigger drier than a martini, and the onion was simply to signal the difference. Over time the onion alone made it a Gibson.

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:+1:

I don’t hate martinis, but they are very far down my list of what cocktails I’d order or make for myself.

One reason is that I just don’t like whole olives, green or black, stuffed or not. I’m perfectly fine with cooking with olives and their oils. But the idea of sitting down to a Holiday relish tray and snarfing olives just isn’t my thing. At all.

What would you think of an XS Kumamoto or Olympia oyster instead of an olive for the brine and texture?

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A twist is a pretty standard garnish, or a slice of cucumber.

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Kumamotos are too good by themselves to sully with booze (or…yuck…cocktail sauce). My wife occasionally has a Marthibodeaux, a martini garnished with a pickled okra.

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You don’t have to take an olive in your martini. Twist, i.e. lime, lemon, grapefruit, orange, depending on the gin are all options, as are slices of cucumber that are generally used with Hendricks.

If you want brine or texture, how 'bout a caper berry?

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I was never a fan of martinis myself in the past. I guess I never had a proper martini, until I had one in San Francisco a few months ago, made by a young waiter at Tadich Grill. I did not give him any directions, but he made perfect martinis which have now become my benchmark in how I like them.

So, that is with just an olive in the glass, no brine, and very dry. I’ve just poured myself a gin tonic, Tanqueray no 10, and I already find it a waste of my gin, would rather have made a martini.

I generally don’t even eat the olive in a martini, it’s just there for that slight change in the taste profile, just a tad of ‘dirtyness’ in what is in essence a very clean tasting cocktail. I guess the martini is typically favoured by experienced drinkers because it has such a ‘narrow’ taste profile - e.g. versus a negroni - but one that hits the spot 100%. Difficult to explain, and not suggesting you’re not an experienced drinker…

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What I like about a martini is that it’s not sweet. I know most people find a negroni to be bitter, but I have such a low tolerance for sweetness in my drinks, even campari is too much. I feel the same way about tonic water. There are drier tonics out there, but I still would likely mix it with half seltzer. If I’m gonna have a refreshing gin drink, it’s gonna be a French 75 :slight_smile:

What I also like about a martini is that it’s the perfect way to sample gins that are unknown to me. Of course, I always ask for a small taste before ordering. That Barrel Hill is on the sweet side (it’s got honey in it for some reason), so I’d prefer to have that in a martinez. Same goes for the Bloedlemoen.

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A caper berry sounds like a great idea, thanks, need to try that soon. Just wanted to give a shout out to Nude Glass, really love their glassware. Crystal clear and elegant, but still sturdy and dishwasher safe. And yes, all this talk about martinis… :slight_smile:

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It’s only 11 am here, but I think I might hafta have one to start our dinner party tonight :slight_smile:

ETA: And by that I mean having it tonight… not now, silly!

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C’mon! The sun is already over the yardarm somewhere.

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One of my daytime gigs is driving, so… can’t do it. I just drove two girls to a margarita HH that runs from 12-3pm. If I had ONE I’d be in bed by 5pm. I’m a terrible day drinker, and we’re expecting dinner guests later :wink:

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A caper is a fine idea, although I don’t think I’ll ever be liking martinis.

I’ve had martinis with caper berries (not capers) and found them to be delicious.