This lovely graphic (which I think we should have printed in cyanotype and strung on the wall of the TS Lair) has caused a little bit of a stir (miserable pun intended).
It seems Martinis are a controversial item, and being that we've got at least a couple of alcohol snobs in the set I figured it was high time we roll out the educated answers right here on Team Sikorski.
"Introduce the Gin to vermouth from across the room, and then put in an olive." -ChurchillIt seems to me that most people want a cocktail glass of gin, but they want to call it a martini. A martini is, classically, between 2:1 and 5:1 gin to vermouth (sweet or dry, depending on your origin) with either an olive or a lemon peel twist. The gin should be cold, the ice should be minimal, and it should almost certainly not be shaken, but stirred carefully.
*ghasp* But wait! What about (fill in the blank)!
Before you get your knickers all a'ruffle, let me explain what you've probably been drinking. And note there's really nothing wrong with any of these drinks, only that calling them a "martini" is not technically correct.
"Vodka Martini:"
Made famous by the early days of Bond, and most likely the reason anyone knows about this drink at all. When substituting Vodka for Gin the drink becomes a "Kangaroo." Gin and Vodka are produced in very similar manners, except that Gin traditionally is distilled using juniper. Various kinds of gin can take on a strong juniper flavor (Tanqueray, Bombay, etc) or have a hint of cucumber (Hendrick's, NewAmsterdam, etc). Similar alcohols, but different noses to them. Vodka is distilled grain or vegetable starches.
"Shaken, not stirred:"
Also made famous by Bond, this process chips up ice which is then dissolved in to the vermouth. This is called "bruising," which has little to do with actually damaging the vermouth, but that it weakens its flavor (unlike whiskey, but that's for another post). A slurry of ice chips in a gin/vermouth drink is called a "Bradford." Our proper bartender friend explained to us over New Years that a five star martini is one which is produced without clinking the ice against the mixer, spoon, or each other.
So the venerable JB was drinking a Bradford Kangaroo. Which is fine, he's still The Man. And good luck explaining to a typical O-Town bartender what a Bradford Kangaroo is.
"Appletini, Pineappletini, etc:"
Since most of these are made with Vodka and crushed ice, well, you get the idea. I detest these not because they are bad drinks, but because they are simply cocktails, served in a cocktail glass, which happens to be the same glass a martini is usually served in. It makes it more complicated to order martinis proper. A cup does not a martini make. A perfect martini served in a mason jar is still a perfect martini. Not a mason jar.
Onion:
Most people know this one, but I've heard at least one person order "a gin martini with a bit of onion." This is called a Gibson, as in Charles Dana Gibson, not Debbie "Foolish Beat" Gibson.
Dirty Martini:
Not in quotes. As in this is still a proper martini, because it's Gin, Vermouth, and Olive. It just has some olive brine poured over.
So it's Martini night tonight, alright?
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2 comments:
Interesting! I agree the differences between martini's and cocktail's are worlds apart. However, I think you'll find that by only using chilled alcohol, without the use of ice to bruise it, you might not be as pleased as you would hope. I quote "The Craft of the Cocktail" by Dale Degroff. I HIGHLY recommend picking it up. You'll love it. I got my Cosmopolitan recipe from it and my mom (arguably a Cosmo expert LOL) swears it's her favorite, among the Cosmo experts such as Carmines in New York.
"The water does many things to a cocktail. Besides diluting it, it also mellows the alcohol burn and introduces the 80- or 90- proof spirit gently to the tongue, by opening flavors and aromas that would be missed otherwise"
Also, there are many aficionado's that would argue "pouring" brine for a dirty martini would be sacrilege. Many people have misters that simply spray the inside of the glass with olive brine. Anything more would be extra dirty.
I concede there are differing levels of "dirtiness" ranging from scruffy to filthy on the use of olive brine (I've seen some that are similar to your approach, in which they swirl brine in the glass and dump it before pouring the drink, just to leave a fine coating to mix with). Either way, it's still a dirty martini.
For the water, bruising, etc, as with all cocktails it's a matter of dose. The water that strips off of the ice while you stir the vermouth and gin together is enough to still leave a slight oiliness of gin. Much more than that and it will make the vermouth completely mix with the gin, and you've gone from mixture to solvent. Might as well package the two in the same bottle.
It's the same with whiskey: basically dropping a cube in and fishing it out with a fork is adequate water to serve the purpose. The line between bringing out the flavors, and taking the boldness out is tenuous.
We've also found that the colder, the more people seem to become sensitive to the range of flavors. We tried freezing vodka down to dry-ice temperatures (-80f), and suddenly everyone else was able to get past the "cough syrup" image they had of it. Makes me think I'm less sensitive to the ethyl flavor, leaving me more able to experience the other flavors directly.
I'll check out that book though, sounds solid.
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