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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
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What the hell is a martini these days?
Yesterday evening, trying out a new bar in Boston, I naively asked the bartender for a martini. He asked me what kind of vodka I wanted in it, and which of a longish list of exotic ingredients he should add. I had to tell him that it was to consist of gin & dry vermouth. He did know to put an olive in it.
I (along with MWC10) had been aware of the existence of vodka martinis, and my sampling of bartenders has been sporadic, but this demise of the time-honored acceptation of "martini" tout court must be very recent. Has it happened in the rest of the world?
I note, by the way, that the OED thinks a dry martini is one that contains more gin than vermouth. By that generous definition, all U.S. martinis since the 1950s at the latest have been dry; debatable ratios in my undergraduate days extended from 3:1 to 6:1 the drier, the more fashionable.
No use complaining. According to Rombauer, the canonical martini of my youth was itself a perversion of the original 19th-century recipe, which contained sweet as well as dry vermouth, and orange bitters!
Joe Fineman (Email Removed)
I (along with MWC10) had been aware of the existence of vodka martinis, and my sampling of bartenders has been sporadic, but this demise of the time-honored acceptation of "martini" tout court must be very recent. Has it happened in the rest of the world?
I note, by the way, that the OED thinks a dry martini is one that contains more gin than vermouth. By that generous definition, all U.S. martinis since the 1950s at the latest have been dry; debatable ratios in my undergraduate days extended from 3:1 to 6:1 the drier, the more fashionable.
No use complaining. According to Rombauer, the canonical martini of my youth was itself a perversion of the original 19th-century recipe, which contained sweet as well as dry vermouth, and orange bitters!
Joe Fineman (Email Removed)
Top answer
snip [nq:1]I note, by the way, that the OED thinks a dry martini is one that contains more gin than vermouth. 1975) that the fashionable ratio was one part gin to whispering the word "vermouth" at it and to make sure you didn't whisper too loudly. Cheers, Harvey Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years; Southern England for the past 21 years.
- snip [nq:1]I note, by the way, that the OED thinks a dry martini is one that contains more gin than vermouth.
- 1975) that the fashionable ratio was one part gin to whispering the word "vermouth" at it and to make sure you didn't whisper too loudly.
- Cheers, Harvey Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years; Southern England for the past 21 years.
- (for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)
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7 Answers
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[nq:1]I note, by the way, that the OED thinks a dry martini is one that contains more gin than vermouth. ... have been dry; debatable ratios in my undergraduate days extended from 3:1 to 6:1 the drier, the more fashionable.[/nq]
I was informed in my grad school days (c.1975) that the fashionable ratio was one part gin to whispering the word "vermouth" at it and to make sure
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[nq:1]He asked me what kind of vodka I wanted in it,[/nq]
I persist in ordering just "a martini" to which I add, "up, with a twist." (I find few bartenders drain olives sufficiently these days and I end up with a glass of weak brine.)
When the waiter asks, gin or vodka, I answer, gin, in a tone that implies, "of course" without actually saying the words.
It is one man's very small effo
I persist in ordering just "a martini" to which I add, "up, with a twist." (I find few bartenders drain olives sufficiently these days and I end up with a glass of weak brine.)
When the waiter asks, gin or vodka, I answer, gin, in a tone that implies, "of course" without actually saying the words.
It is one man's very small effo
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I heard that you pour vermouth on the ice cubes, then discard the vermouth that touched the ice cubes and then pour the gin on the ice cubes.
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[nq:1]I heard that you pour vermouth on the ice cubes, then discard the vermouth that touched the ice cubes and then pour the gin on the ice cubes.[/nq]
Sounds like there's a real problem out there, people. The only way to make a really dry martini is to keep the vermouth bottle unopened, but let its shadow fall across the martini glass just before serving.
Michael West
Mel
Sounds like there's a real problem out there, people. The only way to make a really dry martini is to keep the vermouth bottle unopened, but let its shadow fall across the martini glass just before serving.
Michael West
Mel
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[nq:1]Yesterday evening, trying out a new bar in Boston, I naively asked the bartender for a martini. He asked me ... him that it was to consist of gin & dry vermouth. He did know to put an olive in it.[/nq]
Were I to simply order "a martini" I would be unsurprised to be asked "gin or vodka"? I am surprised by any bartender making vodka the default assumption, but that likely reflects the expe
Were I to simply order "a martini" I would be unsurprised to be asked "gin or vodka"? I am surprised by any bartender making vodka the default assumption, but that likely reflects the expe
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On Fri, 5 Sep 2003, in message (Email Removed), Joe Fineman (Email Removed) writes
[nq:1]No use complaining. According to Rombauer, the canonical martini of my youth was itself a perversion of the original 19th-century recipe, which contained sweet as well as dry vermouth, and orange bitters![/nq]
My Grandfather always used to make "gin and mixed vermouths". He never called it a Martini, b
[nq:1]No use complaining. According to Rombauer, the canonical martini of my youth was itself a perversion of the original 19th-century recipe, which contained sweet as well as dry vermouth, and orange bitters![/nq]
My Grandfather always used to make "gin and mixed vermouths". He never called it a Martini, b
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[nq:1]No use complaining. According to Rombauer, the canonical martini of my youth was itself a perversion of the original 19th-century recipe, which contained sweet as well as dry vermouth, and orange bitters![/nq]
Has no one else here noticed the fad for flavored martinis? I find it unimaginable that someone would actually drink a fruit-flavored martini, much less a chocolate martini,
Has no one else here noticed the fad for flavored martinis? I find it unimaginable that someone would actually drink a fruit-flavored martini, much less a chocolate martini,
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