SirWanker
10-29-2009, 04:43 PM
David went behind the bar and found glasses and some ice and made two martinis.
"It tastes good, but terribly strong," the girl said.
"They are strong," David said. "But there's a strong wind today and we drink according to the wind."
Hemingway
On that note, let's stick to one definition of the martini cocktail: vermouth, gin/vodka and some sort of garnish. A drink with banana liqueur can never be a martini, neither can something with watermelon, peach purée or kiwi be. Depending on the brand of vermouth, gin, vodka and choice of garnish you can give the drink a different name: cocktail onions make it a Gibson and Gordon's, probably Stolichnaya) vodka and Kina Lillet make it a Vesper - nonetheless, these are all martinis.
A martini is either stirred or shaken, it is never served at room temperature nor 'on the rocks'. A purist would only drink a stirred gin-martini but James B. made the vodka-martini so popular that we can't really avoid it anymore. After said procedure, the cocktail is strained into a martini glass and the garnish is added.
An interesting ingredient I haven't mentioned thus far is bitters. A very common ingredient in the past, but I doubt many bartenders still know their use. The bitters usually used for a martini are Angostura bitters - add a dash of the stuff and you'll taste a significant difference!
To conclude: let's discuss the martini!
"It tastes good, but terribly strong," the girl said.
"They are strong," David said. "But there's a strong wind today and we drink according to the wind."
Hemingway
On that note, let's stick to one definition of the martini cocktail: vermouth, gin/vodka and some sort of garnish. A drink with banana liqueur can never be a martini, neither can something with watermelon, peach purée or kiwi be. Depending on the brand of vermouth, gin, vodka and choice of garnish you can give the drink a different name: cocktail onions make it a Gibson and Gordon's, probably Stolichnaya) vodka and Kina Lillet make it a Vesper - nonetheless, these are all martinis.
A martini is either stirred or shaken, it is never served at room temperature nor 'on the rocks'. A purist would only drink a stirred gin-martini but James B. made the vodka-martini so popular that we can't really avoid it anymore. After said procedure, the cocktail is strained into a martini glass and the garnish is added.
An interesting ingredient I haven't mentioned thus far is bitters. A very common ingredient in the past, but I doubt many bartenders still know their use. The bitters usually used for a martini are Angostura bitters - add a dash of the stuff and you'll taste a significant difference!
To conclude: let's discuss the martini!