It’s been awfully quiet round here lately, which fortunately is not due to me losing my limbs in a horrible freak-accident, but mainly due to my preoccupation with things not more important, but certainly more pressing.
Nevertheless, here’s another installment of my ‘tini Chronicles (’tini, as compared to Martini, is the way actual cocktail-insiders talk. Or it’s the way idiots talk, I haven’t quite figured that out yet).
I saw the above mixer-set advertised in the Sunday papers. It was really cheap, and since I don’t adhere to the saying that those who buy cheap, buy twice, I went and bought the set. I’m now in the fortunate position to be able to stir my Martini with a professional stirring spoon, which you may think is not much different from any other long-stemmed spoon, but you’re wrong. It’s actually got the pictogram of a Martini-glass stenciled right into it. What better way to stir your Martini than with a spoon that’s totally in the spirit of the whole venture?
And, if you compare images of earlier Chronicles, you’ll notice that the new shaker is of elegantly crafted metal, which lies in stark contrast to my first shaker, a stylish but yuppie-ish white plastic thing. Not that I didn’t like it! I’ll hold it dearly in my heart for the rest of my life for being the tool that helped me lose my cocktail-virginity, and maybe, in the years to come, I will dig it out again and use it just for old times’ sake.
In the end, what I prepared was a strict 2:1, dry Vermouth, three Olive-Martini. I think I noticed a slight metallic taste during the first sip, but that could have been mere imagination.
Equipped with Bombay Gin, Noillit Noilly Prat (edit: did I actually misspell that? I’m such a chump!) did I and a solid Single Malt, I yesterday added another chapter to my glorious Martini Chronicles. Have a look:
What you see is a variant of the Dusty Martini. While the original Dusty substitutes Vermouth with Scotch, I added the Scotch after mixing a 2:1 Dry Martini. The effect was a Martini that had lost most of its bitter edge and instead had most of the sweet Scotch flavour.
It’s definitely a good Martini variant, even though it doesn’t resemble the original Martini Dry a whole lot. Which, in the end, is not really a problem, because all I and probably everyone else wants, is a damn good drink.
And in rapid succession, here comes the latest installment of the Martini Chronicles. On a whim, I decided yesterday to create a 50-50 Martini, but with a twist. A Vodka twist! That’s right, I made a Vodka Martini, with three parts Vodka and three parts dry Vermouth.
Glasses of course were chilled to perfection, and the lemon wedge was big. I think I like the Vodka Martini more and more, but always with the caveat that it isn’t of course a real Martini.
Nevertheless, I’ll try to fill up a small bottle of Vermouth tonight, so that I may be able to have a Vodka Martini at the Tupalo bash (which, according to the invitation, is sponsored by Absolut Vodka). I do hope they have lemons too.
Let’s start off with a quote, shall we?
“It has come to my attention that some people believe a martini can be made with vodka instead of gin. While it is true that you can follow the above recipe, substituting vodka for gin, and produce a liquid that some people will drink, believe me, it is not a martini, not no way, not no how. It is a concoction suitable only for those who have no soul and less guts.” #
Well, there’s a time to have a soul and guts and there’s a time to just have leave those behind. Especially when you’re bound to the rules of scientific experimentation and general awesomeness. So here’s the latest Martini:
Yes, that is a Vodka bottle, and a cheap one too.
I prepared the Martini as I had done with the first one, but instead of Gin, I used 4 parts of Vodka. Instead of an olive, a lemon was cut up and a wedge put into the chilled glass before pouring.
The bitter flavour Gin adds to a Martini is of course not present in a Vodka Martini. Instead, it just tastes a lot like Alcohol with a tad of lemon.
Not my favourite Martini, but the girlfriend liked it. Reason enough to consider making it again, even though, by any standards, it’s not a real Martini.
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