Martini, anyone?

I've never acquired a taste for martinis. I don't drink strong drinks very often. I usually drink beer or wine or watered down liquor like gin and tonic or a marguerita. If I do get a hankering for a strong drink it's usually bourbon on the rocks. I've tried martinis, Manhattans and cosmopolitans but did not really like any of them.

Gin is not my cup of tea. I take my olives with a bloody mary.

I like a good martini occasionally as well..Tanqueray is my favorite..light on the vermouth, heavy on the olives. I ordered a Grey Goose on the rocks at PP during happy hour once..they charged $7 because I requested ice...guess the happy hour liquor prices are for shots only. You can't beat the beer prices there though..esp during happy hour.

Love em, almost as much as tequila shots. Martinis mess me up fast though, tequila, I can pound that all night. Like magicrat, Tanqueray is my fav gin. At those prices though, I will stick with the tequila shots during HH at Platinum.

Pop: Bloody Mary's are another nice place to put olives. For a twist try a tequila Bloody Mary. I always liked then with my huevos rancheros, when in Mexico.

magicrat: Next time we meet up, maybe we can go to lunch or dinner and order double olives.



elemental: I think I am getting too old for shots of tequila but on occasion I have with Sauza Blanco. They go down better, if the bottle is chilled. BTW the Margarita was invented at Hussongs Cantina in Ensenada, Mexico in 1941 by a bar tender that worked there. Google it. I have probably drank in that bar over 100 times and never knew it. I do have two t-shirts from there.

Ahh...a Martini. That does sound good. Has to be gin (I'd also go with the Tanqueray. Don't really see the appeal of the Bombay Sapphire) at a reasonable ratio (4-1 or maybe 5-1) since it is just cold gin if there isn't any vermouth in it. Must admit that I prefer a twist to an olive. Biggest problem is that there just aren't many bartenders who seem to have a clue how to make a good one. Don't think I'd trust any of the ones I know at a strip club to do that. Besides, if I started drinking martinis at a club, I'd probably end up dead. One martini...good; Two martinis...better; Three martinis...bad; Four martinis...dead.

We martini drinkers have deserved reputations as a fastidious, argumentative lot so I won't take the bait on vodka vs. gin.

I'm curious---despite the cost---how well was the drink at PP mixed? I generally see the bartenders in dance clubs primarily as beer slingers, and generally order my libations straight on the rocks. Less room for error.

An exception is the barstaff at Mens Club in Charlotte, who offer a properly chilled glass and pour with the little bits of ice float at the top, which make that first couple of sips especially refreshing. Of course you pay for it too. I don't think it was ever more than $9, but money was flying fast and furious that night, and anything could have happened. (celebrating a friend's divorce)

Shadowcat: The next time you're in Columbia and jonesing for a martini, walk up the block and try the bar in the Embassy Suites. Crystal, the night bartender, has a light touch with the vermouth bottle, and the results have always been more than satisfactory.

Finest kind.

The former bartender in me has to jump in. Know why everyone wants light to no vermouth in their martini? Because the vast majority of bars have old, stale, nasty, spoiled vermouth. Vermouth is a wine, it will spoil if not refrigerated. It needs to be vacuum sealed like wine also. Even at that the bottle should be tossed if it is over a month or so old. Most bars (unless they serve a lot of martinis) have shitty vermouth.

fantasycamper: The Martini at PP was as good as any. The Embassy Suits is right next door to the hotel that I always stay in but I prefer to get my Martini's at a restaraunt where I am going to eat. In Columbia D's, Applebees and Ruby Tuesdays, all make good ones.

AN hit it on the head. Forget about what brand of gin is used, the freshness of the vermouth is what separates a good martini from a bad one. I only ever order a martini (a real one, not the crap that's called martinis in trendy bars) in a place that I'm sure sells lots of them (eg. a good restaurant) so I know the vermouth is fresh. And then, because I'm a purist, I'll ask for Beefeater. That's the only real martini. And I don't get the olives anymore since most bars now use the real big strong-tasting ones. Some places even add olive juice to the drink - yuk! What is this world coming to?

FONDL, THANK YOU!! You are not supposed to pull the olives straight out of the brine they're packed in and plop them in a drink! Olives should be soaked in water for at least 5-10 minutes and rinsed thoroughly before using them for anything, let alone in a drink with so many delicate aromatics.

I also like instead of olives, pickled onions. You know. The very little ones. I haven't seen them in quite awhile.

There was a point at which we used to call a martini a gin salad (or vodka salad for you cretins out there). Three olives, three onions and a twist. We had a guy that ordered them like that. When he heard the term he loved it and ordered them that way from that point on.

Like happylap, I've never acquired a taste for martinis. If I want to get a QUICK BUZZ, I'll order vodka and Red Bull! For a quicker BUZZ, I'll order a Jager Bomb!

To me, Martinis are for the more uppity ups in this world, and I can't imagine Shadowcat being an uppity up! :-)

Bones: Tastes don't have anything to do with being a snob. I hate Scotch. They say that you have to acquire a taste for it. I say, "Why should I acquire a taste for something that tastes that bad and costs that much." BTW ITC, if I want something other than a coke, 95% of the time it is a rum and coke. Never beer.

Shadowcat: I hate Scotch too! If anyone can acquire a taste for Scotch, in my opinion, is already an alcoholic. Let's see how much "that line" opens up this discussion. LOL I'll nurse a beer ITC, but from then on it's Red Bull or plain coke. I don't want my 'belly' full of bear when I'm being POUNCED upon by a lovely ass!

OK Bones, I'll take the bait. Compare and contrast. Someone who wants a drink consisting of lightl flavored alcohol, with an olive, versus someone who wants the complex flavors and regional varieties of a robust sipping drink. Want proof? Humphry Bogart's last words; "I should never have switched from scotch to martinis" I rest my case.

The only time I ever have a martini is before dinner and usually only at a good restaurant. I think a martini increases the sensitivity of the taste buds and gets the juices flowing, thereby making a good dinner more enjoyable. But I only ever drink one, after that it's wine.

I used to like scotch in the winter but haven't had one in years. I used to really like cognac too. And I used to drink gin and tonics all summer long. But I've gotten away from hard liquor - I like it better than it likes me. Now I'm happy with just wine and maybe an occasional Yuengling on a hot afternoon.