Comments on: Engineer's Guide to Drinks

By: Spiv

Spiv — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:50:38 +0000

Fill has got it right. As far as I can tell, most people just want to have a gin and call it a martini.

Or worse, they want to have a couple shots of vodka and call it a martini. Don’t get me wrong, I love vodka, but when I drink it I just ask them to pour me a frozen glass of vodka. Either way if you actually mix a little vermouth with your vodka it’s called a kangaroo. Please order as such so I don’t have to raise an eyebrow at bartenders who are now required to ask what we actually mean when we order a “martini.”

Summary: putting it in a cocktail glass with some fruit does not make it a martini.

Martini: somewhere between 2:1 and 5:1 gin to vermouth (by preference. Classic is 2:1), drop an olive in or a lemon twist. Don’t abuse the booze by shaking it to death in a canister of rocks.

Hendrick’s is my fav, Amsterdam my cheap substitute. So basically I prefer a hint of cucumber over raw juniper or something that tastes like a flower shop. Nothing against people who prefer the florals.

By: Tod R. Lauer

Tod R. Lauer — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:23:26 +0000

@jimbo

My basic recipe is 2oz tequila, 1oz triple sec, one generous lime – all very cold + ice… You really need nothing more…

By: Fill

Fill — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:47:56 +0000

Give me a 2:1 or a 3:1 with orange bitters any day over this modern rubbish overflowing with alcohol and olives any day!

All these people repeating these memes about how “a great martini is a glass of gin next to a bottle of vermouth” are either 1) Liars 2)weak-minded and simply swept up by the myth of ‘great’ drinkers(Churchill, et al.) 3) people who don’t drink martinis

By: Coffee Rituals | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine

Coffee Rituals | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:17:15 +0000

[...] not all advice on such a topic is too be trusted. The Engineer’s Guide to Drinks thread featured a sobering (as it were) number of people who think a “martini” should [...]

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:04:19 +0000

Yes, fillers do exist. This doesn’t make them correct.

As for martinis, I find myself snobby about their definition without having any taste for them whatsoever.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:25:48 +0000

Lawny & Todd:
Lime Juice only ? Thats an `adult limeade’, NOT a margarita.
Next time you’re in a store, check out the ingredients in any of the mixes.
I can assure you, lime juice is only one of several other essentials.

By: Lawny

Lawny — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:23:31 +0000

Damn right, Tod–no mix in a margarita and the martini only needs to be made somewhere near the vermouth bottle–2::1 is a travesty. Blake’s got it right.

By: Tod R. Lauer

Tod R. Lauer — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:15:22 +0000

@Jimbo

Mix??? Margaritas need fresh lime juice, and that’s it…

By: Sili

Sili — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:18:02 +0000

Unfortunately my taste has me collecting mid-range cut glass. No martini glasses in that range. (Nor tumblers, but I have some highballs that can be cut down – if I only I knew someone with the skill.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:42:30 +0000

Buncha Eastern guys…Who cares about all these drinks designed for Sinatra, Martin, & Bond ?
We Western Dudes know: good tequila, vs. whisky, gin, scotch, vodka, rum, etc., DOES NOT produce a hangover…Moreover, if ya want the best Marg on the planet, it will cost a ticket to Boulder, CO, and a visit to The Rio (incidentally, the best TexMex fare in town !).
You see in CO, grain alcohol is LEGAL, and the secret recipe involves experimenting to find the right combo of it, tequila,& mix. The Rio found it years ago, and has a neon sign in the shape of a marg glass, above the mirror bar proclaiming: 3-MAX, & you’ll understand why after 2. Don’t try finding a seat there between 6-9pm, th, fr nites, unless you like to wait.