Food Some thoughts on Martinis

I posted the following to my Facebook notes this weekend:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If one really wants to crank up the vitriol at a cocktail party, an excellent way to do so it to hold forth on the single correct way to make a martini. People think this is Serious Business. People need to lighten the fuck up. There are at least as many ways to make a perfect martini as there are people who drink things they call martinis.

HOWEVER, I would say that for a martini to BE a martini and not something else entirely, it does need to fall within certain standards: A martini must contain no less than 80% gin OR Vodka (Flavored vodka IS acceptable, if gauche). The only other alcohol in a martini should be vermouth, and it should probably be a dry vermouth. The only reason one might put any kind of bitters in a martini is if one wants a hint of citrus peel, and one does not have any of the fruit handy from which to squeeze that ambrosial drop of oil, in which case I suppose a drop or two of lemon, lime, or (and I shudder to say this) orange bitters is an acceptable (if barbaric) workaround. Other than that, one to three olives, stuffed or not, black or green, with or without a bit of the brine OR a twist of Lemon (or in certain circumstances where it might make synergistic sense, Lime) peel. NOT both. Whether a similar pickled vegetable will change the name of the drink varies. A cocktail onion will make most people call it a Gibson. A slice or pickled okra or jalapeño will make most people sneer. A prune will make the drink a Mother Superior. Regardless, I would call any of those a martini, though using other than an olive or twist of lemon peel will only work in certain circumstances.

That's it though: Gin|Vodka|[Flavored Vodka] + Vermouth + Citrus Oil + Olive|Citrus Peel|[Pickle]|[[Other Garnish]]

This is to be chilled with Ice. Shaken, Swirled, or Stirred WILL change the character of the drink a bit, but not the kind. I recently did an experiment and made 2 otherwise identical martinis (4:1 Hendricks to M&R Bianco, 1 drop Fee's Lemon Bitters, 2 Bleu Cheese stuffed olives), the first one Stirred, the second Shaken. Shaking really chilled it down in a hurry, stirring cooled it less. However, stirring gave a smooth drink, a hint of sweetness, and a silky mouthfeel. Shaking gave a harsh and biting drink, emphasizing the bitterness of the herbals and the alcohol in the gin. I will probably never shake another martini. Your mileage may vary. If you like the bitter aspects of gin, you may want to do the shaking thing.

Discussing this with a friend who knows more about cocktails and the history thereof than I leads me to believe that the difference between a martini and a gibson has little or nothing to do with the olive/twist/onion thing and everything to do with the proportion of Gin to Vermouth. An old school martini is 4 parts gin, 1 part vermouth. A Dry martini is 6 parts gin, 1 part vermouth. Very Dry is 10 to 1. A Gibson is the one where you rinse the ice (or the glass) with vermouth and then toss it before adding the gin. No vermouth makes a Churchill aka a glass of chilled gin.

OK, enough with that. There's a theory here: What you do with a martini depends on what flavors you want to emphasize, which should depend on your mood or activity or the weather or what you just ate/will be eating/are eating now. Regardless...I figure there are a couple ways to go about it:
1) Emphasize the Gin
2) Emphasize the Vermouth
3) Emphasize the Garnish
4) Synergize all three.

Emphasizing the Gin: I say Gin advisedly here. You could, I suppose, try to emphasize the vodka, but there are better drinks to do this for flavored vodka, and This is where you go for the Gibson. What vermouth you use should be one that has the same sort of herbal character as the gin, or one that has a flavor that will Anchor the gin. The garnish should be mild. A single small olive. A twist of lime peel in a Tanqueray Rajput Lime Gibson. A thin slice of kosher half sour pickle in a Hendricks Gibson. A cocktail onion in Plymouth. This is the place where I feel a vigorous shaking really lets the gin shine. The microcrystals of ice thus created will give it a fuller body and a bigger mouthfeel. Do try it just stirring, though. Reasonable minds may differ.

Emphasizing the vermouth: This is where you either want a really middle of the road gin (Like a Bombay Sapphire) or a really nice Vodka (Grey Goose or Absolut or Finlandia or Luksosawa). 4 to 1 with the vermouth. The garnish will depend on the vermouth. If you're going to use a red, this might be a great place of a twist of really nice lemon peel. An intensely herbal vermouth like the Martini and Rossi Bianco might work particularly well with a pitted kalamata. A more sherrylike vermouth, say Noilly Prat, might do well with an almond stuffed spanish olive.

Emphasizing the Garnish: Let's just say you have on your hands the finest olives you've ever seen, and you have some exquisite blue or gorgonzola, and you stuff 3 of those olives just full with the cheese. You could just eat them, but somehow they would be more honored too be bathed in alcohol. This is where you want the smoothest vodka you can lay hands on. Choose your vermouth to just bump one character of the garnish a bit, something with a bit of rosemary or a hint of acid for the olives in question. Go with Very dry or Gibson. Then, drink slowly and let the flavor of the garnish infuse the drink. Other garnishes that will work nicely here: High quality raw onion, just a paper thin slice. Anchovy stuffed Provencal olives. A cornichon (if you're into them).

Synergy: This is where both the classic martini and the real abominations live. If there is such a thing as a perfect Martini, it's here. It should be an excellent gin 4 to 1 with an excellent white vermouth, and a really nice, pitted but unstuffed Spanish olive. And it should probably be stirred or swirled. One can spend a lifetime matching gins and vermouths and olives or twists. Shake or no. What works will depend on the unique tastes of each component and your palate. No one else's. But this is also the place where a pepper Vodka and a robust red vermouth and a slice or two of pickled jalapeño with a drop of lime oil (and maybe a quick grind of black pepper) can be wonderful. How about a French Genever with a very herbal vermouth and a slice of green bell pepper?

So, drink what you like. Just know, if you're going to call it a martini, make a martini. If you like something that's kind of like a martini, but has Lime juice in it, then you have a Gimlet. If you have something that involves Liqueur you've got something else entirely. If cranberry or currant juice is involved, you're looking at a Cosmo of some sort. If coffee is involved, well God help you, but enjoy, just don't call it a martini. Half the fun of mixing a weird drink is naming it.

Drink well, my friends.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
So... How do you like your martini? What do you like that's martini-ish, but isn't a martini?

 

I am reliably informed that I will be getting a bar peeler in my stocking this weekend. I am rather looking forward to making myself a Plymouth martini, 6:1 with Tribuno Dry, and a twist of lemon peel, then making as close to the same drink as I can with Tanq.

Last night's martini was Plymouth 6:1 with Noilly-Pratt dry, touch of lemon bitters, and a Jalapeño stuffed olive. Didn't work as well as I would have liked.
--- merged: Dec 20, 2011 3:42 PM ---
BG, Vodka has its place. The only time I really like to use it is when I am testing out a new olive, though. I'll make an Extra Dry (Gibsonish) with Stoli and Tribuno, then put the olive in. Great way to evaluate a garnish. Bonefish Grill does a martini like that with Rain Organic Vodka and 3 Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives (and no vermouth I could detect) that is exquisite.

 

I dislike martini glasses. As an engineer, I find them too sloshy and inefficient at controlling the liquid inside. There's probably a good reason for the shape of the glass, but I don't know what it is.

 

I'll admit I often put mine in a red wine glass (mostly because I have 2 Martini glasses only)
--- merged: Dec 20, 2011 3:59 PM ---
As to why that shape: The stem is so that you don't warm up the drink with your hand. The cone shape is to help prevent the alcohol from separating out by density. The wide rim is to keep the surface tension high which, in theory, helps release the aromatics of the gin. The size of the glass is to limit the liquor to an amount that will remain chilled while consumed at a leisurely pace. Filling it all the way to the rim is foolhardy.

Some folks will tell you it's because that's the easiest shape to empty completely in a hurry, which would have been a selling point during prohibition. Some folks will believe anything. Nice story, though.

 

I have to admit I don't get the martini thing. I can drink a ton of bourbon but can't take anything with gin in it. My husband used to drink Beefeater gin both in martinis (occasionally) or on the rocks. Never understood it

 

I'm no purist, in fact I prefer vodka over gin. And in a Gibson rather than a martini. But, I will drink a martini if you twist my arm, and like it.

 

I'm mostly a whiskey guy myself, and preferably Rye or Bourbon at that, and I really do enjoy a Rye Manhattan with Rittenhaus 100, perfect, Shaken, up, with a twist and a cherry (and bastardized with some Gran Marinier). But that's an awful lot like a martini. Now, I also enjoy a good Gin and Tonic in the summer. So, I figured there has to be something to this whole Gin thing.

The something is this: You can't drink cheap gin. Like Scotch and Tequila, there is a floor on how inexpensive a gin you can buy and have it be useful for anything but paint thinner. I keep a handle of Tanqueray for mixing - that's my rail. Plymouth is the dry gin I use in martinis, and Hendricks is practically a different liquor. If you were interested in figuring gin out, and you like a sweet drink, try this:

Purple Rose
2 1/2 oz Hendricks Gin
3/4 oz Creme de Cassis
3/4 oz St. Germaine elderflower liqueur
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If you're feeling really saucy, garnish with a candied (or even plain) violet. (They're quite tasty.)

If you're more of a savory person, and you want to try a martini that is hard to dislike, again with the Hendricks:

3 oz Hendricks Gin
3/4 oz Martini & Rossi Bianco vermouth (Lots of rosemary character)
1 or 2 drops of lemon bitters OR the oil from a twist of lemon peel
2 Blue Cheese stuffed queen olives.

STIR the liquor with ice in a metal shaker until it's too cold to hold. Strain into a cocktail glass. Peel the twist off the lemon over the glass, then squeeze the twist over it to get that drop of lemon oil (then discard the peel), or add a drop or 2 of Fee's Lemon Bitters. Drop in 2 Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives. Drink Slowly (The idea is to let the blue cheese infuse as you drink). There is nothing harsh about this drink if you do it this way. There's even a touch of latent sweetness. Now, if you shake this one it gets harsh and challenging (though still quite tasty if you like gin).