Alkohol...

SEE YOU ALL AT LUNCH @ 12:00 in the EMRB

I thought that today's (and my first) blog post should be about making the perfect martini, the ultimate, classy alcoholic beverage. Personally, I believe that the only true martini is a gin martini, and I like the dry vermouth (the light color vermouth).

This article (http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Martinis) suggests adding the vermouth to the glass and swirling to coat the glass, then pouring off the excess (or not if you like a little more vermouth flavor). I recommend you taste a little vermouth by itself, it's not bad as it is made in similar fashion to wine, and this little experiment can inform your decision to go more or less on the vermouth. The way I approach the vermouth is to add the ice to the shaker and pour in about a 1oz shot of vermouth and shake that around to coat the ice, then pour off the excess. This is probably a little more wasteful, and I think would result in less vermouth in you martini. Then add 3-4oz of Gin (some recommendations are made in the article, but Beefeater gin is what I like [ http://www.beefeatergin.com/index.php ]), shake and pour. I don't buy any of the snobbish business about stirring versus shaking. Shaking makes a delightful beverage.

Vodka or Gin? Bill believes that Gin tastes like gasoline, but this is erroneous. Gin actually tastes like turpentine (I used to paint houses and siphon gas [separate incidents]), as both are made from conifers. That being said, a good gin martini needs a little vermouth and an olive to be complete. On the other hand, a Vodka Martini needs a little something extra as it is a blank canvas. I prefer these to be served dirty (add a splash of olive juice from the jar). However, you can also add citrus, onions, extra vermouth, or whatever strikes your fancy (see the article for a description of a smokey martini). All these options provide endless potential for getting stupid.

On a final note, according to the article a vodka martini is "properly called a Kangaroo." Personally, I love that, and I would derive some pleasure from ordering a "Kangaroo" just to see if the bartender immediately grabs the Vodka and Vermouth. I would, in that moment, finally be cool ;-)