what's your favorite martini?

[angee_is_mad]

I am trying to have a martinin party and would be interested in DU'ers favorites.

[LSparkle]

1. Vodka at Musso & Frank's ....

where they give you unlimited olives ...

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Try a...

Vodka martini with Anchovy-stuffed olives. Mmm-mmm.

[kayleybeth]

3. Can't stand martinis myself

Blech. Gin and tonic with lime is good though :-)

edit: I DO know how to spell "martinis".

[Wwagsthedog]

4. Use good gin & vermouth

I like mine on the rocks in a double old fashioned glass - 4oz gin to 1/4 to 1/2 oz dry white vermouth with olives on a toothpick - stir to blend and serve. For a party, use 80 proof gin (Gordons won't break you) and keep an eye on the bar because you could end up with some drunks.

An alternative would be gin and tonics in the same size glass with ice but serve with a shot of gin (1.5 oz). Squeeze a slice of lime into each drink. This option will keep 'em sober longer and would be a bit easier on the budget.

Enjoy

[angee_is_mad]

21. No martini glasses?

[caledesi]

5. Dirty Martini (a friend's favorite)

Dirty Martini:

4 ounces of Luksusowa Vodka, 1 1/2 ounces of Boscoli Olive Juice, shake with ice shavings and two olives, poor into chilled glass, garnish with two olives, makes TWO servings.

[HuckleB]

9. Yup.

Though it's even better with serious top shelf Vodka and less olive juice, cut the juice back to an ounce or 3/4 of an ounce. With Cascade Lakes Vodka you could go down to a 1/2 ounce or less. Heck, the Vodka Martini they serve at the distillery is just Vodka shaken with two olives, and it ROCKS! Further, the distillery uses no vermouth in any of its martinis, and the truth is, vermouth would ruin the goodness of the vodka and gin that is produced there. It's my opinion that vermouth is only necessary to dull the bite of bad vodka and gin. It certainly does not improve the flavor of the martini.

[soothsayer]

6. for a martini party, get a selection of gins and of olives

Bombay Sapphire, Tanqueray, Plymouth, Gordons, Beefeater will make some distinctively different martinis. You could go with different vermouths, too, but you only use a teeny weeny bit, and if you get Noilly Prat that's really the top vermouth, so how can you go wrong.

I see alot of folks are recommending vodka for the martinis, but I'm a purest and think martinis are strictly gin affairs. That being said, gin can make people FIGHT, so maybe vodka's not a bad alternative.

The other cool thing to do is to get a selection of fancy pants olives: stuffed with pimento, with jalapeno, with almonds, with garlic, etc. Also just get the big gigantic beauties that look like golf balls (dean and deluca would have 'em, sometimes fresh fields). You can serve cocktail onions but that changes the drink into a gibson instead of a martini. Some folks like twists of lemon, but purists say "If I wanted a G-D lemonade I'd have asked for one!"

That's what I did when I had a martini party when i turned 30, and since it was well before the craze (o lord, nearly 12 years ago!) I had a devil of a time finding 20 martini glasses for my guests! Now you can find 'em anywhere, and dirt cheap too, so you should be ok. As it was, only my dad and I drank martinis and I think we both passed out before the end of the party.

The martinis of course slosh out of those glasses pretty easily, so it is a bit of s sloppy affair if it's crowded. I went to a lecture and booksigning (also 12 years ago) for some fellow who wrote "The Art of the Martini" I think it is, and it was a crowded affair, so spillage was the norm.

Oh, if you happen to have a silver plated cocktail shaker, it makes the martinis extra extra cold. Seriously! It gets colder than yer average shaker, you will actually have tiny ice crystals in it and ice will form on the outside. It's really cool (pardon the pun), and is the way to go. Or if you have a bunch of cool cocktail shakers, put them out too.

Top it all off with some martini art, which you can buy very reasonably from fellow DU-er Melsky at her site www.eclecticmelsky.com. She makes NEAT martini paintings that, if displayed by your martini fixin's, will add to the charm.

Of course, mebbe you had in mind those fake martinis--sour apple, chocolate, etc.---in which case, yer on yer own!

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Exactly!

I agree with everything you say about putting together a martini party - keep the vodka away, try a bunch of different gins (or if you can't get that many bottles, go with a good solid gin, like Bombay or Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray Ten - I wouldn't serve Plymouth as the only gin: even though it's REALLY tasty, it's a bit of an overly sweet taste), a variety of olives (and don't use any of those cheap olives from a jar - they're the shits), use a nice shaker, and get some melsky art. :-)

And I also agree with the last line - if you're talking about fake martinis (aplletinis, chocotinis, or any other sweet abomination), I shall call you a liquor heretic, and not help you any more.

And if you are wrongly using the word "martini" to mean "cocktail", then I'll explain that a martini is a drink that falls within the category of cocktail, and the words are not interchangable. I hate bars and restaurants that give you a list of "martinis" and it includes the Cosmo, sidecar, etc.

[soothsayer]

15. i'll drink to that!

I see we're kindred spirits. And yeah---Tanqueray Ten would add to the fun cuz of its art deco bottle alone, not to mention its extra aromatics.

Wow! I want a martini now and it's only 10 a.m. How long does a grrrrl have to wait?

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. A grrrl may have a martini whenever she wants one!

even at 10 am.

Heck, even for breakfast at 5 am.

[soothsayer]

17. Jeeez, I like the way you think!

Bottoms up...

[terrya]

7. To paraphrase Homer Simpson.."UMMMMM, Chocolate Martinis"

And I'll refrain from Homer's accompaning drool...:-)

But I love chocolate martinis. Very tasty.

[Whitacre D_WI]

10. My favorite martini is a martini.

Gin and vermouth.

Or rather, good gin and a wee tiny bit of vermouth. Winston Churchill used to say that if you pass the cork from the vermouth bottle over your glass of gin, that is sufficient.

I like Tanqueray Ten for martinis, but any good gin works (regular Tanqueray, Bombay, Beefeaters -- avoid Gordon's and Crystal Palace like the plague, which is what you'll wish you had in the morning if you drink them).

For the vermouth, there are three options:
1) Cheap well vermouth: Pour a small amount of vermouth in the glass, swirl it around to coat the glass, dump it out. Add chilled gin.
2) Use olives packed in vermouth, which nullifies the need to purchase a bottle.
3) Good vermouth (not easy to find and not cheap): don't dump this stuff, because it's good and pricier. Mix one part of DRY vermouth with three-to-four parts gin with ice and strain into your glass.

Voila! Martini!

[trof]

11. Temperature is ALL!

I keep the gin in the freezer.
Oversized Martini glasses, too.
Drink stays cold to the last drop.
Warm Martini=blech
I like a variety of olives, almond stuffed, pepper stuffed, garlic stuffed, anchovie stuffed, and even good old pimento stuffed. Like the onions too, and sometimes just a small pickled hot red pepper.

Salty snacks go best, IMHO.

You might have a couple of pairs of boxing gloves on hand. We call gin "fightin' whiskey".
;-)
Skoal
:toast:

[kodi]

12. lea martini

.

[Robb]

13. There is no God but Classic

and Bombay Sapphire is his Prophet. ;)

[Jerseycoa]

14. Bombay Sapphire Gin

In a shaker with ice. Stir. Coat glass with vermouth. Strain gin through ice into glass. Add olive. Perfection.

Caution:

1-2 of these, you feel fine.

3-5, drunk.

Above 5, bombed out of your mind.


:dem:

[trof]

18. On "very dry" Martinis

BTW, the Martini cocktail was named after a person, so should always be capitalized.

I once asked a venerable and experienced bartender how much vermouth he uses when a customer orders "very dry".
He made a circle with thumb and forefinger, "Zero".
'At's my MAN!

[LynneSin]

19. Grey Goose Cosmopolitians

If you're having a vodka party; whever you do, DON'T GO CHEAP ON THE VODKA.

Friends claim that Belvedere is the best Vodka, but I'm partial to Grey Goose. I also like Ketel One.

[angee_is_mad]

23. It will be a Martini Party

not a cocktail party with about 15 people. I thought it would be a great holiday party. Well I will let you all know how it goes.
I hope this doesn't offend the purists out there, but I plan to have some of those cute martinins too, but I want to introduce them to the real deal also.

[velocity]

20. Diet Coke

:) no booze....

[HEyHEY]

22. A couple years ago

I was at the airport with my friend's girlfriend...waiting to pick him up. It turned out a guy we went to school with was the bartender so he made us a lime martini that was so good, and I've never been able to find anything close to it.

So I just like straight old gin vermouth.....and make sure the shaker has been coated with scotch!