Make the perfect martini

I tried out Drinkboy’s suggestion yesterday (http://www.drinkboy.com/Essays/ThePerfectMartini.html), specifically to work with different proportions of vermouth & gin, and stir things well so that some ice melts (the water as well as the vermouth smooths out the gin).

I tried a 1 part vermouth to 4 parts gin as well as 1:8. I preferred the former; the latter still had a bit too much botanicals.

I’m going to have to get some sweet vermouth for a true proper martini (50% sweet, 50% dry vermouth).

I’m not very good at making martini, unfortunately, but I practice and I hope that some day I will be able to do this!

is a brand of marmalade, and I have just made a breakfast martini with Frank Cooper’s Vintage which is without a doubt the best. So perhaps it’s time to treat everyone to the song that’s going in the Snowleopard10 musical when it eventually gets produced:

Make mine a martini!
Make mine a sour!
Make mine a Lambrini..
(chorus: Euw!)
For it’s the cocktail hour!

Clearly I am somewhat drunk so will go away now. Prepare for hangover tomorrow.

I discovered this last year and have been making them on and off ever since. I’ve even converted a couple of martini-purist mates. The rather decadent name doesn’t come from the meal you drink it with (although I can think of worse ways to start the day) but rather the magic ingredient: marmalade! It was invented by Salvatore Calabrese who used to run the Library Bar at the Lanesborough Hotel in London. His version includes Cointreau but I think that makes it a bit sweet so I leave it out, although sometimes I add some apricot brandy instead. Usually I just bung a couple of measures of gin and a dessert spoon of orange marmalade (ideally Frank Coopers) into the shaker with loads of ice, shake, and pour into a martini glass – that’s it! So it’s really very simple and can be made in about 30 seconds, which is my kind of cocktail after a hard day at work.

my GOD this is amazing . . . I’d been guilty of Vermouth abuse in times past when I didn’t drink as much as I do currently. Fortunately, that’s been cured and I made the leap to take it very easy on the vermouth. Oh man, best move I ever made. Martini’s aren’t for the weak drinkers. If you would classify yourself as a “girly-drinker” then this certainly isn’t for you. but if you’re brave enough, bold enough, and brazen enough to drink ice-cold gin with a dash of un-aged white wine, this is quite possibly one of the greatest concoctions to grace the palette.

made with GIN, and only GIN!

It is all about the ratio- 10 parts gin to 1 part dry vermouth.

Need proper glasses, misted with water and chilled in the freezer. Have a swizzle stick with 3 small or 2 lg green stuffed olives ready. Pour the gin and vermouth into a cocktail shaker with 6 large ice cubes. Stir gently, and then strain into 2 glasses.

This is not perfect yet, I am still working on it….

Prepare a lime (or, saving that, orange) twist.

Prepare a martini glass by filling it with ice cubes—spin the glass for a while to get the glass nice and cold.

Leave the glass alone, and fill a metal martini shaker with ice cubes.

Dump your ice cubes out of your glass, and spritz with vermouth. The perfect amount is best described this way: “Wave the vermouth bottle in the direction of your glass from a safe distance.”

Now measure out your gin, pouring carefully into the shaker. (Do NOT simply dump your gin in. Gin is a delicate drink, and can “bruise” easily. You *can taste the difference between gin that’s been handled properly and gin that’s been abused. Do not abuse alcohol.)

Gently stir the gin in the shaker. Do NOT shake. (James Bond was wrong.)

Very gently, pour your gin into your glass, and add the citrus twist.

Enjoy quickly—this drink is all but worthless warm.

Some other notes:

Martinis do not contain vodka. A drink in a martini glass made from vodka is some other drink, and is not to be called a martini.

Unlike vodka, you get what you pay for with gin. Spend the money and get Tanqueray. Beefeater will do in a pinch. Bombay Sapphire is for Gin and Tonics not for martinis.

Always use clean glassware, and never re-use your ice.

Get a citrus tool for making your zests with. Soooo much easier.

Be generous with your ice—It is made of water, afterall.

On that note: always make your ice out of distilled water. Tap water is for making Tang with. You’re a grownup, aren’t you?

• Martinis do not have olives, you’re thinking of some other, inferior, drink.

also see:

http://flickr.com/photos/flickerbulb/95054208/

http://extratasty.com/recipe/714/the_perfect_martini

I can appreciate a good martini, but I’m just not interested enough to suffer through all the not-so-good martinis it would take me to get to perfect. I am, however, perfectly willing to be made the perfect martini. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to add make amnerocious the perfect martini.

I’ve been bartending for 3 1/2 years now and I make the best martinis. Infact they are my specialty. There is definitely a science to it, but not as hard as it sounds.

either ketel one or grey goose. For additional fun, choose a flavored vodka such as green apple or watermelon. Instead of vermouth, match the flavored vodka with schnapps. (For example, vodka and sour apple schnapps) All I can say is delicioso.