Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/05/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Jeff, since we've recently had a longish thread on watches, I figure that we can talk martinis for a short while without annoying too many folks. Just a small exaggeration re the "wave the vermouth cork thing". I just calculated my mix here to be 4:1, being two full jiggers M plus one half jigger vermouth. So I think we are in close agreement there. I chill the glasses and keep the gin in the freezer. Not truly fanatical re the gin brand, my wife is a fan of the Bombay Sapphire. I agree that the vodka versions are not classical, nevertheless very palatable although quite different. Just to put forward one possible heresy, I've even enjoyed what Jimmy Buffett calls a Cajun martini. A chilli is dropped into to a half bottle of gin to marinate for a period. That could start me on Margarita recipes! Cheers Hoppy -----Original Message----- Subject: Re: [Leica] Memorial Day 2007 2007-05-29-20:22:57 G Hopkinson: > Chilled glass, blue sapphire and double olives. As long as it was no > more than wave the vermouth cork over the top you have it perfected. Now see, I have to disagree with this whole hyper-dry Martini craze which apparently accelerated into a kind of madness during the Cold War era and hasn't yet been properly recovered from. The common late-Fifties-on exceedingly dry Martini tends to be calculated with gin in the ounces and vermouth in the dashes (if it makes any real appearance at all), so what you get is basically a glass of gin -- which, if it's good gin, isn't that terrible a thing, but I think the dry Martini arms race has become one of those self-conscious exercises in machismo, like pretending to relish the most painfully corrosive hot sauces. (Yes, Habaneros add a lovely smoky flavor all their own; but you don't have to toss in so many that they slough off a few layers of oral skin.) A proper Martini is a perfect blend of gin, vermouth, those notes of olive-y brine, and cold (yes, I count the chill an essential ingredient in its own right). I contend that, to my palate, these 11:1 gin:vermouth concoctions just aren't as enjoyable as (as you ready for this?) a classic '30s to '40s (think Nick and Nora Charles!) 3:1 Martini. Try it sometime, with an open mind. As a nod to modernity, though, I'll acknowledge that I think the true sweet spot lies in the neighborhood of 4:1. One area I think we'll agree, though: a Martini is by definition a gin drink. Full stop, no prevarication. There can be lovely vodka-based drinks, but their name isn't Martini, no matter how much a chorus of 20- and 30-somethings may try to insist that it is. (There was a nice mention of this silliness in an article in the NYT recently.) As for your blueness: if it's Bombay Sapphire to which you refer, I agree, it's a tasty Martini base. If you like that, I bet you'll also like Plymouth, should you not have tried it yet. _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information