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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: Martini's
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 12-10-2005 03:58 PM
Rated PG ![[Smile]](smile.gif) Wall Street Journal
Don't Forget
The Vermouth
By ERIC FELTEN
December 10, 2005; Page P15
Martini passions run high. Take the copy I found of a 1930 cocktail book called "Shake 'Em Up!" The first owner of the volume penciled, in an elegant if excited hand, a simple editorial comment over its Martini recipe: "NO, NO, NO!!!"
The "Shake 'Em Up!" recipe -- two parts gin to one part French vermouth and a couple of dashes of bitters -- was archaic even in 1930. In the 12th year of the Volstead Act, a Martini would still generally have been made with a few drops of orange bitters, but the fashionable ratio of gin to vermouth was already 4 to 1. In decades to come that ratio would be doubled, and even doubled again.
The Martini started life in the 1880s as the Martinez cocktail. It was modified from the Manhattan -- whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters -- by substituting gin for the whiskey. The gin was originally a syrupy-sweet variety called Old Tom Gin. By the aught years, Old Tom was tossed in favor of dry gin, sweet (red) vermouth gave way to the dry (white) kind, and the Martinez came to be the Dry Martini.
A Martini made with dry gin and dry vermouth proved to be a far more sophisticated cocktail than its sweet predecessor. "The ultimate class bifurcation based on drink," Paul Fussell wrote in his sly and malicious little book, "Class," is "the difference between dry and sweet." But somewhere along the way, "dry" came to mean a Martini's relative absence of vermouth. Even so, the social cachet attached to "dryness" persisted, and decades of striving have produced today's dry Martini standard: in effect, a straight shot of gin or vodka. Which is odd, because there's nothing particular swanky about a glass of plain gin -- in Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four," everyone gulps his synthetic gin straight.
Near-Perfect Martini
2 oz Hendrick's gin
¼ oz Vya dry vermouth
• Shake or stir with ice, and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with olive.
Original Intent Martini
2 oz Plymouth gin
½ oz Noilly Prat dry vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
• Shake or stir with ice and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with olive.
Ladder-climbing hasn't been the only imperative driving Martini dessication. Ernest Hemingway ranked "dry" Martini-drinking somewhere between bull-fighting and big-game hunting in his hierarchy of the manly arts and favored his Martinis at 15 to 1.
Vermouth avoidance may connote social status or tough-guy panache, but it doesn't make much sense as far as the taste of the drink is concerned. Plenty of cocktails call for a dash of this or a drop of that, and in those recipes the this-and-that are almost always intensely flavored ingredients, such as pastis or bitters. But vermouth is not only mild; it takes what flavor it has from some of the same botanicals that contribute to the taste of gin, including coriander, orange peel and orris root.
Modern Martinis suffer from another extreme: size. The three-Martini lunch isn't quite the debilitating excess it sounds like if you realize that the Martinis of the lunch's 1950s heyday were half, or a third, the size of today's stemmed tubs of gin. The next time you catch a bit of "North by Northwest" on television, look for the scene in which Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint trade sexy banter in the Pullman dining-car. Grant starts his meal by ordering a Gibson (a Martini garnished with a cocktail onion). The drink arrives in a glass so small that both bowl and stem disappear in his hand. It was almost certainly a better drink than today's gigantic Martinis, which are guaranteed to be warm as dishwater (and about as savory) halfway through.
For all the ritual and mythology, a Martini is a perfectly easy drink to make. Start with good gin and good vermouth and the cocktail nearly makes itself. Liquor store shelves are crowded with an embarrassment of excellent gins. I tasted blind a dozen dry gins and half a dozen dry vermouths, then tried the best in various combinations and ratios.
Think of gin as basically a flavored vodka. The smell and taste of juniper berries is almost always front and center, but since a decent gin is infused with a dozen or more spices and botanicals -- often including fennel, licorice, angelica root, and cassia bark -- distillers have plenty of room to define their gin by the flavors they emphasize. Tanqueray's super-premium No. 10, for instance, is very bright, dominated by tangy citrus peel. Or the distiller can strive not to emphasize any of the flavors: Junipero keeps its flavors in such perfect balance that none poke out.
A couple of the less expensive brands gave me what I paid for. Beefeater and Gordon's were just a little too raw for the naked exposure of a Martini. But more expensive didn't always mean better. I much preferred the broad-shouldered, everyday Bombay gin to its pricier sibling, the watery Sapphire.
There's no such thing as the perfect Martini, so, as the bartender in a New Yorker cartoon once said, a near-perfect Martini will have to do. For me, it starts with Hendrick's, a gin that one could describe as bursting with flavor if the tastes weren't so beautifully rounded and seamlessly integrated. Hendrick's is self-assured enough to stand up to Vya, a delicious dry vermouth made by the Central Valley's Quady winery. Because Vya is itself no slouch in the robust-flavor department, I found that it was best to mix Hendrick's to Vya in a fairly modern ratio of 8 to 1.
My second-favorite gin was Plymouth, a venerable English brand recently revived by some savvy entrepreneurs. Plymouth has an elegant balance of the traditional gin flavorings, and a light, airy quality that matches up perfectly with Noilly Prat's delicate vermouth. Unlike the Hendrick's and Vya, Plymouth and Noilly Prat were around in the Martini's formative years. Put them together in a 1930s ratio -- four parts gin to one part vermouth -- and you have the classic in its classic proportions. Add a couple of dashes of orange bitters, and you have what I call the "Original Intent Martini."
Shake your Martinis and they'll come out with a nice icy bite; stir them if you want a silkier consistency. And either way, use ice untainted by municipal chlorine and free from memories of trout caught last summer. Then decide: olive or lemon twist? But it's not much of a choice, really: Who can snack on lemon peel? ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 09-21-2006 08:39 AM
Rated PG Ed in Aurora, Ont.
The Value of a Drink
"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink
I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think
About the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes
And dreams . If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out
Of work and their dreams would be shattered.
Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this wine and let their Dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
~ Jack Handy
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell Happened to your bra and panties.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they
Wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're
Going to feel all day. "
~Frank Sinatra
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."
~ Henny Youngman
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence?I think not."
~ Stephen Wright
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk,
We fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all
Get drunk and go to heaven!"
~ Brian O'Rourke
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
~ Benjamin Franklin
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like an idiot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Without question, the greatest invention in the
History of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the
Wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does
Not go nearly as well with pizza."
~ Dave Barry
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can!
~ Dave Howell
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin,of Cheers.
One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm.
Here's how it went:
"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not
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