Time for a cocktail! (10 Viewers)

I love gin and here's a nice little batch of vesper...
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Damn this blew up since I looked last!

detroitdad said:
I normally like my drinks strong. The only vermouth that I used was splashed in and out of the glass. I made another one over the weekend and I used 2 shots of vodka and probably less than a half ounce of vermouth and it was an improvement.

I'll be trying a few more tonight :)

I'll probably try some bitters at some point in my experimentation phase.
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Definitely recommend a couple few dashes of orange bitters in a martini! Could do grapefruit probably instead, but I would probably stick with citrus bitters.

Poker Zombie said:
The difference between shaken and stirred, is two-fold.
  1. Shaken makes the vodka (or gin) cloudy. Stirring leaves you with a clear drink.
  2. Shaken makes the martini colder, faster.
Also, 2:1 is a terrible mix. :vomit: At most 4:1, and even then it had better be something of a higher quality than vermouth, like Lillet Blanc. 5:1 is common, and less is usually preferred.

Winston Churchill said it best: "Pour the vodka, and glare at the bottle of vermouth."
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detroitdad said:
I think my martini preference is somewhere between your "wash the glass with vermouth and pour it out" and @v1pe ounce of vermouth.

I think my last martini has about a quarter or so of vermouth and it was good. I also think I "shook" it too long and it was more watered down that what I like. I'll figure this out one day. I'll have a few more shots at it tonight :)
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Disclaimer is as always, drink it like you like it :)

I'm more aligned with @RichMahogany in regards to cocktail taste. My preference leans towards classic (pre-prohibition) style cocktails. I very very rarely drink vodka at all. I much prefer a spirit with some flavor, and usually overproof at that. The specs I gave were definitely geared towards a gin martini, which I assumed would also work for vodka but since vodka is a "flavorless" spirit perhaps less vermouth is better.

Klobberer said:
Best martini variation I ever had was a Vesper at Death & Co. in NYC...

1.5 oz gin
0.75 oz vodka
0.5 oz Cocchi Americano
Lemon twist
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I do enjoy a good vesper martini and that's a good spec for one although I might go with .25oz Cocchi or somewhere between like 1/3oz.

RichMahogany said:
@v1pe is correct about martini specs, at least for a classic martini(which is gin btw, not vodka). Of course everyone should make theirs how they like.

Also, @detroitdad you should stir your martini. Spirit forward cocktails are meant to be stirred, as @Poker Zombie said, to keep the drink clear and unclouded. The only real reason to shake a martini is to make it ice cold. Some ways to avoid watering it down too much are to 1)double strain so that ice chips don’t sit in the glass and add further dilution, 2) don’t shake longer that 10-13 seconds. By that time the drink has reached thermal equilibrium. Shaking it longer will only water it down, not make it any colder, and 3)use proper sized ice cubes. Using small, broken, or shaved ice will dilute your drink quicker when shaking it.
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Thanks, I always stir my clear drinks but it's good to remember why.

EmptyPocs said:
not to bash martinis: but why gin for anything? gin is all you could get up until the 30's, that's why you have to mix it: ever hear of anyone doing gin shots? :vomit:
the tech is much better these days: just get some good vodka; jet fuel quality:
View attachment 384124
my mix is 50/50 with pellegrino; 8oz total ea, drink it like a shot, repeat (ie no sipping :tdown:)
does that qualify as a cocktail? my only other choice is scotch neat (or with one medium ice cube, ok)
BTW I started on this gift xmass gift Saturday afternoon, but I had to work today. :rolleyes: (yeah at 5am too :dead:)
Merry Christmas everyone!
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Vodka is a boring tasteless spirit, only used to alcoholize. That's all well and good I guess, just not my bag. There are only two drinks offhand that I can think of that I would make with Vodka: a Moscow Mule (and I would prefer an irish or kentucky mule with whiskey) and a Bitter Bee.

I mean I guess if you are taking shots Vodka is okay, but I would vastly prefer Tequila with some salt and lime to chase. Or a shot of whiskey with a lager/pils beer to chase.

Vodka soda I would call a cocktail, sure. A very simple one but it's still technically a "mixed drink" I think. I don't believe water technically counts as a "mixer", so I wouldn't call a scotch on the rocks a cocktail.
 
Forest@Farmington said:
in.....

my side cars have been made in martini glasses is it a martini??
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IMO the glass doesn't make the drink. Martini glasses suck. If they are properly filled they are hard to carry and drink from. I much prefer a coupe or a nick and nora for most cocktails served up.
 
v1pe said:
Vodka is a boring tasteless spirit, only used to alcoholize
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As someone who has vodkas from around the world in his collection, I would have to strongly disagree.

Once, while on vacation, I was in a martini bar. I asked the waiter for 3 vodka martinis. One Top shelf, one mid-tier, and one well vodka. The plan was to see if I could tell a difference. Was I wasting my money on the more expensive vodka?

The bartender brought the drinks himself. Then he waited. "I tasted each and declared this it top, this is middle, and this is the well vodka." He responded, "Sure, but which vodka was used?"

This was more than I had bargained for. I tasted each again. I mean, I can be wrong, but I can't lose... I'm drinking martinis!

"This one is smooth, almost creamy. Jean Marc, XO"

He was taken aback.

Moving to the next glass with another taste, "This one is my go-to vodka after a hard day; Stolichnaya. I can't really describe it, but it's Stoli."

Again I was correct.

"The third, is something I don't know. Some cheap flavored vodka. I wouldn't drink it."

He told me it wasn't flavored. I tried it again. Nope, like cough syrup, but very faint. I offered him a taste, but he politely declined. He took the drink back.
A few minutes later I see him talking to someone else behind the bar. It caught my attention, because he was pointing at me. The poured a glass of something and they both tasted it. Then they threw the bottle out.

I still don't know what it was, but we didn't have to pay for our drinks that night. What's more, they had been pouring out of that bottle all night without complaints.

The point of this story is, a statement like "Vodka is boring and tasteless" is right up there with "Dice chips are just as good." To the uninitiated, they really are. Once you learn the differences though, it's impossible not to notice.
 
Poker Zombie said:
As someone who has vodkas from around the world in his collection, I would have to strongly disagree.

Once, while on vacation, I was in a martini bar. I asked the waiter for 3 vodka martinis. One Top shelf, one mid-tier, and one well vodka. The plan was to see if I could tell a difference. Was I wasting my money on the more expensive vodka?

The bartender brought the drinks himself. Then he waited. "I tasted each and declared this it top, this is middle, and this is the well vodka." He responded, "Sure, but which vodka was used?"

This was more than I had bargained for. I tasted each again. I mean, I can be wrong, but I can't lose... I'm drinking martinis!

"This one is smooth, almost creamy. Jean Marc, XO"

He was taken aback.

Moving to the next glass with another taste, "This one is my go-to vodka after a hard day; Stolichnaya. I can't really describe it, but it's Stoli."

Again I was correct.

"The third, is something I don't know. Some cheap flavored vodka. I wouldn't drink it."

He told me it wasn't flavored. I tried it again. Nope, like cough syrup, but very faint. I offered him a taste, but he politely declined. He took the drink back.
A few minutes later I see him talking to someone else behind the bar. It caught my attention, because he was pointing at me. The poured a glass of something and they both tasted it. Then they threw the bottle out.

I still don't know what it was, but we didn't have to pay for our drinks that night. What's more, they had been pouring out of that bottle all night without complaints.

The point of this story is, a statement like "Vodka is boring and tasteless" is right up there with "Dice chips are just as good." To the uninitiated, they really are. Once you learn the differences though, it's impossible not to notice.
Click to expand...

FWIW my "boring and tasteless" comment was in comparison to other spirits, not different grades of vodka.

Certainly a fair point that you can discern the difference between a top shelf vodka that has undergone better distilling/filtering...but isn't the whole point of Vodka to be devoid of taste? Perhaps different vodka brands have a different mouthfeel, I can understand that. I can also concede that you might be able to tell the difference between a potato vodka and a grain vodka (or other) based on taste. But still...isn't the ideal vodka actually tasteless?

Regardless, folks might enjoy vodka for the taste and that's totally fine. For my tastes, in any spirit forward cocktail I'm going to reach for Gin/Rum/Whiskey over Vodka as the base spirit. I would argue you will get a more interesting and tasty drink 99% of the time. If I'm trying to make something that is alcoholic, but doesn't taste like alcohol, I'm going for the vodka.

Now...if you don't enjoy the taste of spirits and you just wanna get drunk...vodka makes a fine choice :)
 
In Italy for a week and going to skip my usual drinks of choice ... bourbon straight or in mixed drinks. I’m sure I’ll have my share of wine, but can anyone recommend a harder drink that I can trust to be good here?
 
Hornet said:
In Italy for a week and going to skip my usual drinks of choice ... bourbon straight or in mixed drinks. I’m sure I’ll have my share of wine, but can anyone recommend a harder drink that I can trust to be good here?
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Not sure that you can trust any harder drink to be “good” in Italy. It all depends on what the cocktail culture is like there.

I’ll second @Klobberer rec of a negroni for something harder. I don’t consider an Aperol spritz or Americano harder myself as they both feature either lighter alcohol Prosecco and/or Amaris compared to the bourbon that you’re used to. They are both great drinks though. The Americano is a relative unknown to most stateside and you should have at least one unless you’re adverse to a sweet vermouth forward cocktail.

It would also be criminal to miss out on all the Amaro you could possibly want to ever try

Edit: Of course if you can find any decent whiskey you could always ask for a boulevardier
 
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v1pe said:
IMO the glass doesn't make the drink. Martini glasses suck. If they are properly filled they are hard to carry and drink from. I much prefer a coupe or a nick and nora for most cocktails served up.
Click to expand...

Nick and Nora for the win!
 
Hornet said:
In Italy for a week and going to skip my usual drinks of choice ... bourbon straight or in mixed drinks. I’m sure I’ll have my share of wine, but can anyone recommend a harder drink that I can trust to be good here?
Click to expand...
in Italy or this thread?
 
Quick stop in Santa Barbara on the drive back home yields this delicious riff on a Manhattan. Bourbon, amaro nonino, Benedictine, and angostura bitters blend to produce a very holiday tasting cocktail that expresses itself on the palette with baking spice and cinnamon notes. Very tasty.

06C92A0D-1975-41FC-A899-BB2FD42C4A59.jpeg
 
What's everyone drinking tonight? I know we are drinking.

I am going to go get in a rainy jog and then figure out what I am mixing up!
 

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