Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Sunday, May 22. 2022

The ultimate cocktail

The Gin Martini. It's the best. These days, I only indulge in this treat about twice yearly. I can't handle alcohol the way I used to.


I like 3 olives, to make it healthy. 


From Roger Angell in 2002:  Dry Martini. The ultimate cocktail, down cold.


I'd bet you all would like one tonight. 

Posted by Bird Dog in Food and Drink at 14:42 | Comments (18) | Trackback (1)

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I was introduced to Martini's by an old girlfriend decades ago in the last century. She would make them for her father. Later my wife who use to tend bar would make me excellent vodka martinis with olives. I only have them a couple of times a month now on Friday afternoons. One is enough.
#1 Tim Mc on 2022-05-22 15:43 (Reply)
There was a bar in Cocoa Beach - The Mousetrap - where the mercury astronauts used to hang out. I went there once and ordered a vodka martini - it came in a HUGE glass. No wonder the astronauts like that place.
#1.1 snopercod on 2022-05-22 20:37 (Reply)
Just read that article; I feel like I narrowly escaped a parlor full of fussy old queens.

Tanqueray with a lime twist on one big honkin' rock. Serve as a chaser to a big shot of single malt. No poseurs allowed.
#2 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2022-05-22 15:44 (Reply)
When I was a teen in school I was in sports and even though all my friends smoked I decided to not smoke to keep my health and breathing good for sports, A good decision as it seems now at 79 YO with many of my friends and acquaintances having passed away from lung cancer. When I was in my 20's I would go to the bar with friends but still active in sports and exercise I would nurse a beer but maybe once or twice a year over do alcohol. So before I turned 30 I gave it up. I sometimes have a sip when my wife says this is a good beer or Margarita but even that is rare. Still exercising and still happy I don't smoke or drink.
#3 JustMe on 2022-05-22 17:03 (Reply)
I can't say whether you made the right decision, but your post made me smile. More power to you!
#3.1 snopercod on 2022-05-22 18:53 (Reply)
Auntie Mama says olives take up too much space in such a little glass. Patrick Dennis. Auntie Mame
#4 Snowgoose on 2022-05-22 18:30 (Reply)
No, no, no. Keep the the glasses, olives and ONLY vodka in the freezer. Vermouth is an abomination in spite of being in all of the recipes for "a martini." Make it straight up and rejoice. Maybe a few drops of olive juice. As my late mother would say (think of a better looking version of Katherine Hepburn here), "Only the worst sort of women drink gin."
#5 Missy on 2022-05-22 18:35 (Reply)
At the passing of my wife's father, we liberated a bottle of vermouth from his liquor cabinet. We took it home and dated it ... joking that at the rate we used vermouth it would be in the fridge a year later. I just checked ... the date is still visible in black magic marker: 3/19. Cheers to Dad. A wonderful man and a delightful liquid legacy.
#6 Frankns on 2022-05-22 18:46 (Reply)
I drank little for decades, not since freshman year of college. Since semi-retirement and now retirement I get lots of yard work done with any number of alcoholic beverages. G&T's are a new experiment. In order to have the freedom to not count and not keep track I have had to search out the low-alcohol and no-alcohol versions of wine and beer, but these are far better than what I remember frmo 20 years ago.
#7 Assistant Village Idiot on 2022-05-22 20:29 (Reply)
I would have to pass on the gin or vodka martini but a nice COLD beer after doing yard, garden, and honeydo projects really hits the spot. I still like my old favorite blackberry brandy on ice. My first contact with that drink was from a Christmas package sent out to the field on a helicopter in RVN. Dad packed two half pints of blackberry brandy in a well padded oatmeal box. Can no longer remember what else was in the package but a friend and I finished off the bottles and had a great time sitting in the only foxhole we ever dug chugging down the Leroux.
#8 indyjonesouthere on 2022-05-22 22:10 (Reply)
At our house we have cocktail hour...4 to 5 pm, or maybe 5 to 6 pm. Gin and tonic for Mrs and a vodka martini with three olives for me. Guests are welcome. Time for relaxing and for conversation. If the grandchildren are visiting they know cocktail hour means quiet time and conversation.
Any yardwork requires beer, and a cigar.
#9 rocdoctom on 2022-05-22 23:43 (Reply)
Years ago a workmate friend (Chuck) had me going on the extra dry martinis while we shared expense accounts off of the company during evening meals on road trips. He described to me that vodka is sometimes used for this praises cocktail.
One evening after my second of 3, always 3 limit, he ordered my #3 out of my hearing. When served to me he announced loudly to our table this was a vodka martini for Frank. It went down HOT. I ploughed through all that I could because pride you know. It wasn’t until the next morning while I was in the deep “throws” of a whooper hangover that it was revealed to me that #3 martini was composed of EVERCLEAR!
Beware of workmates offering gifts!!
It was a great joke on me and I laughed about it another day later.
#10 Franknbean on 2022-05-23 07:58 (Reply)
Where I used to work, they kept a bottle of Everclear in the lab to clean the heads of the video tape recorder. That was the only thing it was used for, so that pint lasted for years.
#10.1 Hairless Joe on 2022-05-23 09:34 (Reply)
I very well may be the worst Martini Snob on the planet.

1. Martinis are made with gin. Anything else is preposterous and not a martini. You can call it whatever you want but no gin, no martini.

2. Gin comes in a wide range of prices and qualities. Cheap gin is an abomination. If you can't afford Bombay Sapphire as a minimum, stick to beer.

3. Gin and martini glasses belong in the freezer. No ice cubes necessary and they only serve to water down the drink. A properly made martini has the crisp bite of gin from start to finish.

4. Vermouth should be used sparingly if at all. I pour a bit in the empty glass, swish it around and dump it. One bottle of vermouth should last a lifetime.

5. Olives, like gin, come in a variety of quality and price. Again, don't skimp. And skip the fancy crap stuffed with the likes of blue cheese or anchovies. Those are for the antipasto tray and have no business contaminating your drink. Pimento stuffed olives are barely acceptable. And for God's sake, no peppers, tomatillos, limes, celery or fruit.

6. Pro tip: Don't eat the olives, save them to keep count on your drinks. (Followup: It's been many years since I've needed to keep count. At 70 years old, two is my absolute limit.)

6. Use a fresh frozen martini glass for each drink. It takes less than 5 minutes to freeze a glass so you don't have to maintain a freezer full of glasses.

7. My dad had an excellent guideline (not a rule) for martinis:
Martinis are like tits. One's not enough. Three are too many.

Happy imbibing.
#11 Galway Boy on 2022-05-23 08:14 (Reply)
I could do three tits. Just saying...
#11.1 OneGuy on 2022-05-23 11:00 (Reply)
I take it you've never tried 4 then. :)
#11.2 Aggie on 2022-05-23 20:20 (Reply)
1. Martinis are made with gin. Anything else is preposterous and not a martini. You can call it whatever you want but no gin, no martini.

Nyyaaaa, maybe....

2. Gin comes in a wide range of prices and qualities. Cheap gin is an abomination. If you can't afford Bombay Sapphire as a minimum, stick to beer.

Any port in a storm.

3. Gin and martini glasses belong in the freezer. No ice cubes necessary and they only serve to water down the drink. A properly made martini has the crisp bite of gin from start to finish.

No. Ice in the shaker is okay

4. Vermouth should be used sparingly if at all. I pour a bit in the empty glass, swish it around and dump it. One bottle of vermouth should last a lifetime.

Matter of taste....

5. Olives, like gin, come in a variety of quality and price. Again, don't skimp. And skip the fancy crap stuffed with the likes of blue cheese or anchovies.

Maybe.

Those are for the antipasto tray and have no business contaminating your drink. Pimento stuffed olives are barely acceptable. And for God's sake, no peppers, tomatillos, limes, celery or fruit.

Agreed

6. Pro tip: Don't eat the olives, save them to keep count on your drinks. (Followup: It's been many years since I've needed to keep count. At 70 years old, two is my absolute limit.)

I'm a week away from 72. Three is good.

6. Use a fresh frozen martini glass for each drink. It takes less than 5 minutes to freeze a glass so you don't have to maintain a freezer full of glasses.

Nyaaaa, a little too effete for me, but who cares.

7. My dad had an excellent guideline (not a rule) for martinis:
Martinis are like tits. One's not enough. Three are too many.

See #6. No other comments about this one.

Actually I'm more of a Manhattan guy. But I'm happy to profer an opinion. Just four hours away from The Hour.
#12 Snowgoose on 2022-05-23 13:53 (Reply)
Martinis are made with gin.
#13 HH on 2022-05-23 23:33 (Reply)

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