Martini what your favorite

viman96 said:
That's fine. As a former bartender I can tell you they are considered two different drinks. The confusion occurs when someone orders a "Martini" thinking there is a choice between gin or vodka. There is a Martini which is made with gin. Then there is a Vodka Martini.
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As a ex-bartender, did this while travelling through Europe as a young man, there is both a gin and vodka martini.

The difference is the added flavours. That difference is the preference of Juniper berries in your alcohol.

When I first learned to bartend the old guy had the Savoy Cocktail book where I was trained. I tried different recipes and I still prefer the 1920s formula of 3:1 Vodka to Vermouth. Shake the darn thing till your elbow is sore and the ice cubes have reduced to ice crystals.

Three olives and you have a delicious, clean ice cold drink thats great for the cocktail crowd. To impress the ladies I will sometimes take over the bar and mix the Martinis, Tom Collins, Slings and all the old favorites.
 
davidyee said:
As a ex-bartender, did this while travelling through Europe as a young man, there is both a gin and vodka martini.

The difference is the added flavours. That difference is the preference of Juniper berries in your alcohol.

When I first learned to bartend the old guy had the Savoy Cocktail book where I was trained. I tried different recipes and I still prefer the 1920s formula of 3:1 Vodka to Vermouth. Shake the darn thing till your elbow is sore and the ice cubes have reduced to ice crystals.

Three olives and you have a delicious, clean ice cold drink thats great for the cocktail crowd. To impress the ladies I will sometimes take over the bar and mix the Martinis, Tom Collins, Slings and all the old favorites.
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3:1 not what absolut believes
Ingredients
i was drinking a gin martini last night, I asked my wife if she wanted me to make her one. She asks if I can make a virgin martini, I say yea. So I took a cup of ice shook the crap out of it poured the melted contents into glass and added an olive. I give it to her she asks what is that I tell her it's a virgin martini. We'll needless to say I slept on top of blankets last night
 
I tended bar for many years and have been through TABC classes many times. I'll lay out some common mistakes people make when ordering martinis.

1. a classic martini is always gin, vodka became popular due to James Bond
2. What does the term "dry" mean? It is the amount of vermouth used. The less amount of vermouth = the more dry it is
3. Martinis on the rocks are not martinis, they are simply just more alcohol over ice
4. The main(plain) types are:
a. lemon twist - scrape the rind side along the rim and drop it in the drink
b. olives(2 large or 3 small)
c. dirty - use olive juice and olives

The amount of vermouth varies from person to person making the drink. The more vermouth that is used makes it taste worse. A 3:1 ratio would be absolutely horrible and most likely sent back.

My rule of thumb - if someone wants an extra dry martini, I would chill the glass first(ice and water) or(a frozen glass). Pour out the water and put a splash of vermouth in and swirl it around then pour that out and add in the strained gin(or vodka), garnish properly and that is all.

The classic way for gin is to swirl because it doesn't look cloudy with no ice chips but I always shook it with no complaints :)

For a normal martini, I do a one count of vermouth and a 5 or 6 count of gin/vodka depending on the size of the martini glass. This drink is easy to mess up due to the vermouth and takes practice to make the perfect one.

The vermouth used above is a dry vermouth, sweet vermouth is used for a Manhattan. Vermouth is a fortified wine product made with herbs and spices.

Now, a Perfect Martini is equal parts of dry and sweet vermouth, usually in a 3:1 ratio of gin to vermouth(dry and sweet). These ratios differ but I think the 5:1 is best. However, this drink is rarely ordered.

tip-jar-foodist.jpg
 
I remember having this discussion as a young bartender.

True the Martini in the classic sense uses only Gin.

The Vodka Martini did come into popular culture with Ian Fleming novels.

What is also true is the Martini is one of the most *******ized cocktails you will ever see.

Tradition is it comes in as many forms of the rainbow as the customer wants. This history of variation makes it a tradition of fair game for customization.

Why is the Vodka Martini become so popular? More of the purified distillers of Vodka make it with very little "alcohol note". In short it doesn't taste like rubbing alcohol.

In my opinion it has a very refreshing and almost no flavour. Easy to walk around in a social setting and enjoy without the breath of your old aunt.

When I was mixing I could most times when a customer said "Martini" if they wanted a gin or vodka drink.

Typically over 50 yr olds wanted the classic. Younger wanted the vodka version. By the time the flavoured martinis came on the market about 15 yrs ago the ladies were the ones flocking to the chocolate versions.

Still my favorite drink in social settings. Clean, clear and cold. Can't beat it.
 
My restaurant is getting close to the final stages before we open, hopefully by the end of the year. Already have a nice wine list built and I was thinking of doing a martini list(perhaps for happy hour or something), younger crowds love them. Not sure how extensive it should be, looking like 15 or so specialties. I want to cater to women, men, socialites, young, older, any and all.

For sure, I will have to add the cosmo, lemon-drop, chocolate, apple and the white lady(that is popular in Houston for some reason). I want to concoct a blue Hawaiian type of martini too, casual drinkers love the blue color along with minimal alcohol taste.
 
Grey Goose is like drinking sandpaper. No thanks.

I prefer Tanqueray Ten (Gin) Martini. If I can't get that, then I will go with Bombay Sapphire. (Also Gin) If that is still a no-go, then I will switch to a vodka Martini with Absolute.
 
dexternjack said:
My restaurant is getting close to the final stages before we open, hopefully by the end of the year. Already have a nice wine list built and I was thinking of doing a martini list(perhaps for happy hour or something), younger crowds love them. Not sure how extensive it should be, looking like 15 or so specialties. I want to cater to women, men, socialites, young, older, any and all.

For sure, I will have to add the cosmo, lemon-drop, chocolate, apple and the white lady(that is popular in Houston for some reason). I want to concoct a blue Hawaiian type of martini too, casual drinkers love the blue color along with minimal alcohol taste.
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What type of restaurant are you opening and where?
 
DallasCowpoke said:
What type of restaurant are you opening and where?
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Continental cuisine, Italian, French and Spanish. It will either be in Houston or San Francisco and that depends on how much money is saved by that time to open without any debt going in. The only debt will be the lease, everything else is being paid for as we go :)
 
dexternjack said:
Continental cuisine, Italian, French and Spanish. It will either be in Houston or San Francisco and that depends on how much money is saved by that time to open without any debt going in. The only debt will be the lease, everything else is being paid for as we go :)
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Not trying to be nosy, but I do have just a little bit knowledge on this topic. If you're so forward-thinking to be looking as much as 5-6 years out, why wouldn't you consider putting the purchase of a site and/or building, priority 1?

Real Estate is a commodity that you can borrow against for other expenses if needed, and if the business itself fails, you still own something that in all likelihood will help offset losses.
 
DallasCowpoke said:
Not trying to be nosy, but I do have just a little bit knowledge on this topic. If you're so forward-thinking to be looking as much as 5-6 years out, why wouldn't you consider putting the purchase of a site and/or building, priority 1?

Real Estate is a commodity that you can borrow against for other expenses if needed, and if the business itself fails, you still own something that in all likelihood will help offset losses.
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Mostly because of family issues. Sick grandmother and such. We will buy when we decide on final place to be.

I would hate to purchase here in houston then turn around And go to SF, which is really where we want to be.
 
Pessimist_cowboy said:
Whiskey (wild turkey) and 7up . Simple and good .
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You realize none of these are Martinis? I believe the thread was favorite martinis, not any alcohol. Unless you confuse Dallas Cowboys for general NFL forum, then my apologies.
 
dexternjack said:
casual drinkers love the blue color along with minimal alcohol taste.
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This I believe is going to be your secret to pushing Martinis.

I has cachet as an old society drink with a new following, except every few are able tolerate the rubbing alcohol taste your aunt loved in the 50s.
 
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