Comments on: Ask Your Bartender: Martini Advice

By: The Pegu Blog

The Pegu Blog — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:07:41 +0000

[…] Pegu blogger to argue with this, especially since I don’t drink Gin Martinis? I’ll let Jeffrey Morganthaler take a crack at it. When it comes to Martinis, you can choose for yourself between modern bartender […]

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:29:16 +0000

Hi, recently while cleanning out a seldom used closet I found 2 gallon sizes bottles of Baileys Irish Cream with the dates April 95 & April 99 UNOPENED. There was also a bottle April 88 that was open–which I poured down the sink, it did smell ok. Also in that box there is a bottle of Kahlua –OPENED–I can’t find a date but it must be from the same era as the Baileys. My question is —are these bottles ok to drink? Hard to believe these went unnoticed for so long–but they were in a box with several unused comforters on top.Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. Jeanne

By: Kevin Erskine

Kevin Erskine — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 00:38:16 +0000

I always shake martinis. I don’t believe the “bruising” myth.

What dilutes a martini is adding too little ice to the shaker…

The shaker should be filled to the brim with good quality large cubes…not crappy, watery, melty little shards…

I also prefer a gin martini.
I often confuse bartenders when asking for a “wet” martini…and it usually results in their fucking it up.

Also just as adding an onion turns a “martini” into a “gibson” I think the bartenders of the world should unite and decide that a “dry vodka martini” is just a cold glass of vodka . . . and not a martini at all.

My $0.02.

By: Beak

Beak — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:13:42 +0000

For me the term “bruising the gin” has less to do with flavor and more with texture. I want a crystal clear pour into my choicest glass with little to NO shards of ice. If I wanted a slurpee then I’d go to 7-11, but for now I want a chilled dry gin martini. Yum.

By: Jeffrey Morgenthaler » Dirty, Dirty Sue

Jeffrey Morgenthaler » Dirty, Dirty Sue — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 23:15:25 +0000

[…] A. Why would someone send me, of all people, a martini mix? B. Who needs a dirty martini mix anyway? It’s just olive juice and gin, right? […]

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:58:19 +0000

Well, Chip and Andy, the Bacardi Rum company won a court case in 1936 that stipulated that only Bacardi Rum could be used in the Bacardi Cocktail, so maybe you’re on to something!

By: Chip and Andy

Chip and Andy — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:49:07 +0000

But when do you add the sour apple?

OK, bad joke. But many discussions with my work buddies eventually drift to the martini (I work for goverment, we drink a lot). While I prefer my martini at about 5 to 1 with a top-shelf gin, every single one of my work buddies insists that the Martini Fad has been around since the end of prohibition and that the Sour-Apple martini has been around since forever.

Maybe we can get an Act of Congress or a Presidential Decree reclaiming the Martini as a specific recipe and not as a catagory of other drinks and glasses.

By: Charles P

Charles P — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 01:27:59 +0000

Here here! I simply love a good martini (that would be gin) and a good martini is not complete without a portion of quality vermouth (4 to 1 is my preference also).

By: RC Hardin

RC Hardin — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:13:18 +0000

I’ve read in a couple of places that “bruising” the gin refers to the fact that shaking a martini introduces air bubbles into the cocktail, leaving it temporarily cloudy. While I don’t know if that’s the true origin of the term, I find it interesting that many who naysay the term take it so literally. I’ve read so many comments along the lines of “you can’t bruise gin — it’s liquid, not fruit” and so forth. It is so obviously a metaphorical expression that any attempt to take it literally carries an air of reactionary dismissiveness.

By: Mad Jack

Mad Jack — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:41:09 +0000

Nice site.

The term ‘bruise the gin’ came about as a sort of joke. Amatuer bartenders will shake the living daylights out of everything in sight, and rather than launch into a long explanation involving liquor, water, ice and ice fragments, the client would simply state that ‘you’ll bruise the gin’.

This worked pretty well until Hollywood came along with James Bond and specified ’shaken, not stirred’. I object with the old standard about bruises and gin.

You’re quite right about the vermouth. Few people know that good vermouth has a nice flavor to it. The trouble is that the MD 20-20 that passes for vermouth in most bars does nothing to compliment the rocket fuel that passes for gin. Order top shelf or nothing, I say.