Virago

And Chris said ‘Vodka? I want APPLE PUCKER you schmuck!’

Too trendy for me.

Assuming you drink Gin Martinis…

Any bartender worth a flip should know that a real martini is made with a decent gin, and hopefully also know the history of vermouth use. BUT…post Sex And The City, people almost always want vodka martinis. I found it safer just to ask for the customer’s preference.

When a PP (my somewhat derogatory nickname for ‘pretty people’…you know the type) would come up, sit at the bar, order a martini and then immediately turn away to impress someone with her nouveau money and therefore ignore my inquiry for drink preferences, it was always fun to make her a nice dry Beefeater up and watch her face as she took a gulp of what she thought would be a Cosmo.

Any bartender worth a flip should know that a real martini is made with a decent gin, and hopefully also know the history of vermouth use. BUT…post Sex And The City, people almost always want vodka martinis

I would argue that James Bond had more than his share of blame for this as well..

I am actually not a martini snob. I realize that language is a fickle and evolutionary thing, so if martini these days means vodka, so be it. I don’t fault bartenders for asking at all. But I don’t think the evolution is complete yet, so it’s a little presumptuous to ask “what kind of vodka?” rather than “vodka or gin?” I usually just say “gin martini” or “vodka martini” right off the bat to avoid the entire situation.

But I try not to get bent out of shape about it. The only thing worse than someone that thinks putting apple pucker in a martini glass makes it a martini is the fucker at the bar freaking out because OMG YOU DIDN’T PUT AN ONION IN MY GIBSON THAT’S NOT A GIBSON!!

I mean come, dude, it’s just booze.

Perhaps I should rephrase to say that originally martinis were made with Gin & Vermouth rather than saying that they are the only real ones. My point was more that I (and most others I have worked with) was trained that when asked for simply a ‘martini’ to make a Gin drink, up if not specified, with a hair of the V and olives. Not that vodka martinis aren’t delicious, and I most certainly was not implying that you were a martini snob, I promise!

For what it’s worth, I don’t drink the gin ones, because I don’t like juniper anything. But a nice Woodford Manhattan up? Delish. Places like Virago and The Boundry (is there an apostrophe in there?) make me want to drink out of a martini glass anyway, regardless of what’s in it.

I used to be into martinis but that went away inexplicably. Then it was scotch. How, it’s bourbon.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, bourbon.

Vodka, please. Gin and vermouth martini tastes like turpentine with a shot of hairspray.

and how about the ‘dirty martini’, which my compatriate L Scott tried his damnedest to get me to love like he did? It’s a vodka martini plus extra olive brine…

sorry, allow me to rephrase:

and how about a glass of warm seawater with a hint of pee?

Dirty martinis are bad because the olive brine takes up precious room that could be taken up by gin or vodka