What better way to kick off the cocktail recipes than with the gin martini? My wife isn’t a fan of gin. She prefers vodka’s cleaner taste over gin’s juniper overtones. As for me, gin is a bit of all right. I like its distinctive flavor combined with dry vermouth. And no, I don’t subscribe to Winston Churchill’s take on vermouth. His method was to glance at the bottle of vermouth while pouring the gin. The right mix for me is below. Also, be sure and note that the olive goes in the glass before the drink is poured. That’s an important part of the recipe and effects the quality of your martini. Call me crazy, but I never understand why people pour coffee in a mug and then add sugar. Why not let the coffee do some of the mixing work for you? Same applies here. Adding the olive first allows the gin and vermouth to mix better with the olive juice. Yum!
1/2 ounce of dry vermouth
2 1/2 ounces of gin
0live(s)
Pour the dry vermouth over ice in your cocktail shaker. Swirl the vermouth in the shaker or stir. Just make sure you coat the ice well. Then pour the vermouth out with a strainer. Next add the gin. Stir the gin rapidly. Before pouring, be sure and place the olive (or olives, I like three) into the martini glass. Then strain gin into glass and enjoy!
I’m truly disappointed to hear that your wife drinks GNS diluted with water. I hope, at least, she doesn’t add vermouth and call it a martini.
I always heard that Churchill would bow in the direction of France in lieu of using vermouth.
Finally, you should put 1 or 3 (never 2) olives in a martini, and 3 coffee beans in sambuca, but 2 onions in a Gibson. Why is that?
Steve, I love that folksy wisdom in your last sentence…you sound like a tipsy Dan Rather Andy Rooney… I’ll have to research how those traditions came about. I always find that kind of stuff interesting.
I’d never heard that Churchill bowed to France in place of vermouth. That’s funny. But what does that mean? I believe vermouth originally came from Italy. I had heard that he was prone to drink Johnnie Walker and water at all hours of the day.
I assume GNS refers to vodka? What does that stand for dare I ask?
TITLE: The Pranqster and the Twang Bar King
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Everyone knows that live music and adult beverages go hand in hand. And, the style of music can lend itself to specific drink. At the risk of making broad generalizations and pointing out the obvious, wine is typically associated with classical music, cocktails with jazz, and beer with rock. It’s a preshow ritual of sorts to relax and have a quality beverage or two before taking in a concert.
When I learned that one of my favorite guitar players was coming to St. Pete, after long draught of quality live shows in the Tampa Bay area, I was excited. Last night, Adrian “The Twang Bar King” Belew, the greatest guitar player that no one knows about, put on an amazing rock ‘n’ roll show. I hadn’t seen Adrian live since 1994. No one can make the guitar sound like this man does. Not only did he play and sing with incredible energy and precision, but his band was truly inspiring. Adrian is touring with Eric (drums) and Julie (bass) Slick, a brother and sister rhythm section in their late teens/early twenties. It is so cool that a lengendary talent, who has the ability to tour with any number of seasoned musicians, is bucking the usual trend and giving these two amazing young talents this exposure. In a way, Adrian is doing for them what Frank Zappa did for him in the late seventies…
The story goes that Zappa saw Adrian playing in a band in a bar in Covington, Kentucky and offered him a job playing in his band on the spot, taking an unknown talent around the world and on to great success.
To learn more about Adrian and his extensive catalog of music (solo albums and his work with King Crimson, Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails, Peter Gabrial, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Tori Amos, Paul Simon, and on and on…) click here.
To learn more about the Slicks, visit Eric’s blog where he writes about playing in the Adrian Belew power trio.
But enough about music, this is a bar blog. During my pre-show ritual last night, I discovered a new favorite beer - The Pranqster. I’m always intrigued by non-Belgian brewers that brew “Belgian Style” beer. The Pranqster is brewed by North Coast Brewing Co. in Fort Bragg, California. It is a top-fermented Belgian golden ale which results in a strong, yeasty flavor with fruity notes. The brew is on a sweet side and, because the brewery blends a variety of antique yeast strains, it provides a complex array of competing flavors. It is similar to Duvel’s golden ale which is one of the worlds’ classic, and often imitated, beers. The Pransqster should be available in any specialty beer or liquor store. I strong recommend trying it out.
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