What's your favorite kind of martini?

Bombay Blue Sapphire Gin
Splash of olive juice
Look at the Vermouth bottle from across the room
shake till it's all bruised up
strain
add three olives
Enjoy!

Mines a cosmo too - i could just drink one!

I've wondered where this recent trend to accept any ingredients other than gin or vodka and vermouth, and a garnish other than a twist, olive, onion or maybe a pickled mushroom came from. Fruit flavored vodka? Fruit juice? Chocolate? A girly drink in a martini glass is still a girly drink and should be labeled as such. Not to say they aren't potentially yummy, but let's keep some labeling standards.

And looking at the vermouth bottle from across the room is acceptable, but whispering vermouth, looking at the vermouth label, or God forbid, showing the vermouth bottle to the filled martini glass is way too much. Vermouth soaked olives? Hey, why don't you just drink the vermouth on the rocks? Actually, I think telekinetically applying the "aura" of vermouth to the martini glass without any vermouth actually in the house is an acceptable preparation.

I recently attended a martini evening at a slow foods event in Seattle

This is what the people at this event said to us--please take this as a report from others--I am personally quite ignorant about martinis... The crux was this: those who don't add vermouth to the gin are (with apologies) alcoholics--since the gin is basically just straight alcohol. They asked us to look at who made their martinis with a wink to the vermouth and test this hympothesis ourselves.

So, I offer this up to you for your comments or thinking.

Their recipe for a martini, by the way, included no olives (they just add brine) and a healthy splash of vermouth. These were professional drink makers, by the way.

Chocolate! Two parts Godiva, 1 part Kahlua, 1 part Stoli vanilla, chill. Add ice, heavy cream and a generous amount of sugar to a shaker, shake well untill chilled and sugar disolves. Serve liquer in a martini glass, gently pour cream mixture as topping (decant into a spoon held over the liquid to avoid mixing). Better than sex! Well, maybe not that good......

And as an aside to hossman...have you tasted vermouth and gin...ughhh!

Apple Martini!!!

@skfinkel remember vermouth is wine which has alchol too. Like all food and beverages each persons palate is different and taste are interpreted by the taster. Don't let the "man" tell you what you like. Experiance life by your own taste. Remember your the one who has to swallow it.

Boodles Martini with a twist.

None of that dirty/olive stuff. Gross.

I'm the complete opposite of Andrew. Grey Goose dirty martini with a healthy splash of vermouth and extra olives - it's really the only way to go. ;)

I myself do NOT like gin. Too mediciney, which I believe was one of the original uses of gin. Vermouth is generally very cheap wine. I prefer either a high quality vodka with almost no (and I am not an alcoholic, in fact, I rarely drink) vermouth, or better yet, a tiny splash of cognac or dry Marsala (a secret, nonclassic ingredient I enjoy) and a twist, served freezing cold straight up, but pausing to drink until it warms a bit and the aromatics really take off. If I'm in an olivey mood, pretty much just straight nonflavored vodka with a splash of olive juice and three jumbo blue cheese stuffed olives (although I hate the scum the cheese creates), served on the rocks, but this drink is more about the olives than anything else.

If you want to try an incredibly good, but powerful cocktail, try the first cocktail invented, the Sazerac. It's difficult to make and the ingredients are difficult to obtain (and please, use an absinthe substitute rather than the toxic real thing). But the drink itself is well worth it, and sadly, as a diabetic, I am now only able to drink it occasionally. The original recipe, and best, is here: http://www.sazerac.com/bitters.html More detail is provided here: http://www.gumbopages.com/food/beverages/sazerac.html
Unfortunately, Peychaud's Bitters and Herbsaint are difficult to come by outside of New Orleans. Other bitters and absinthe substitutes may be used, such as Angostura Bitters and Pernod, but it won't taste the same. I do enjoy a Sazerac made with cognac instead of rye whiskey, but I do not like to use bourbon instead of rye, although many do. This is an incredible drink, and the preparation makes an interesting presentation in front of guests.

You'll probably have to make a Sazerac yourself, as I have yet to find a bartender outside of Louisiana who knows how to make it.

The best SaEeax is at the Napoleon House in New Orleans, LA. This was the location where Napoleon was supposed to be kidnapped and brought to LA to live the rest of his days. People in LA lived him. We still use the Napoleonic Code as our system of law here. I was in NOLA last week and had a great Sazerac there with my hubby. You will never make one as good as the ones you get there....or maybe it's just the atmosphere in NOLA. If you are ever down here for a visit....try it!

I meant.... Best Sazerac....sorry.....

You are correct, mzgator. I have spent years trying to perfect preparing my own Sazerac, and it is nowhere near as good as you can get in NOLA. Do you think they are leaving something out of the recipe?

@ hossman: I 'm gonna explain to you a Cajun word called "grimis", prounounced grim mees...It means all the little grimy left over whatever.....no one knows exactly what the "whatever" is. My hubby swears the Sazeracs are so good in NOLA because of the grimis...that additional "Whatever" must be why they are so good. Here's an example...Why is my grandmother's gumbo so much better than mine? She will tell you it's that lil' grimis that makes it c'est bon! The next time I'm in NOLA, which probably won't be too long from now..I'll have a Sazerac and make a toast to my "fluther buddy" Hossman!

I used to use the same principe with my cast iron cookware, my grandmother had a soup base that was handed down to her by her mother (not the recipe, the actual base itself, which was continually added to over time). Henrietta, an African-American lady who taught me how to cook when I was a little boy, had a "drippin's jar" that was decades old, and some "drippins" (bacon drippings, pieces of ham hock, etc.) flavored just about everything, then would be replenished from the resulting dish. I'm pleased to add "grimis" to my vocabulary. And please, have two Sazeracs and the turtle soup at the Commander's Palace.

Oops, grammatical error. Have the turtle soup at the Commander's Palace. Don't have the Sazeracs there, as I'm told they use bourbon, not rye, the barbarians.

The best martini I ever had was a Mango
Martini in Key West at a place called Island Dogs Bar! If you are ever in Key
West, FL I HIGHLY reccomend going there! Great Drinks & Great atmosphere!

I had a pomegranate martini at Ruth Chris steak house here in S.F. It was poured at the table and soooooooooooo delicious I had another one! My only regret was my BF kept adding up the bill for dinner out loud the rest of the weekend trying to understand why it was so high. The steak there is the best I’ve ever had.

Buzz Aldrin
tang, peach vodka and triple sec in an orange tang rimmed glass

Courtesy of The Continental in Philadelphia

Appletini. Extra apple.

I can’t drink them, they make me ill. Just to smell them is terrible for me. But they must be nice for other people because they are rather popular aren’t they. Hope this helps.