Gin and Tonic fans? What's up with tonic water these days?

[tradosaurus]

That might be true, the way some make their martini with but a whisper of vermouth. But that’s not me.

I’ve made both side by side, two different gins (beefeater & sapphire), and two different vermouths (M&R & Dolin), and I could definitely tell the difference between vermouths in both gin mixes.

My Martini is the traditional 1:2 ratio vermouth:gin, not the new-fangled bone dry trend, so the vermouth actually matters.

My tastes are less vermouth. I’ve tried 2:1 ratio and for me the vermouth is over powering.
Definitely a matter of taste which is why I would ask a savvy drinker their preference if I’m making them one.
I think the majority of weekend drinkers wouldn’t be able to tell a good or bad vermouth.
I’ve had martinis from many different bars over the years and the only bad gin martini I had is when they didn’t put any dry vermouth.

 

[WinterDeere]

Yeah, I know I'm the odd-ball. Very few go as "wet" as 2:1 anymore, although that's the more standard recipe from 80 years ago.

Once in awhile, I'll try 6:1 or higher (I think you said yours was 8:1?), and I might even like it if I weren't so used to the older recipe. But it does require good vermouth, when you're inserting that much of the stuff.

I just remembered a party with my neighbors, when they were new to the neighborhood. I offered to make Martini's, and the new neighbor wife was curious to try one. So, I made my most careful mix, 2 parts Sapphire, 1 part Carpano Dry, 1 dash Angostura orange bitters, stirred well, 2 large crisp olives soaked in vermouth, all in a chilled glass... the whole works. Then before I could serve them, the new neighbor husband dumped half a jar of olive juice into his wife's Martini.

She took one sip, made an awful face, said she couldn't drink it. I was too polite to say her idiot husband just served her a glass that was 60% straight olive juice and only 40% Martini. She didn't see the olive juice addition, and probably just thought I was an idiot for making such an awful drink.

 

[Torvy]

Total Wine and more. They have the good stuff, the bad stuff, and the in-between stuff.

There's one in The Colony, not far from where our older daughter lives. It's about 2 hours, but there's another excuse to go there.

 

[Torvy]

PA, being "The Quaker State" is one of the longest hold-outs on blue laws and state-controlled liquor, but even our State Stores (as we call our liquor stores) have both Carpano and Dolin. Carpano can be expensive, Dolin generally much cheaper, and both make a good dry vermouth.

Based on our usual dry vermouth choices here (M&R, Spatola, Dolin, Carpano), I always choose Carpano first, and Dolin when they're out of that. For sweet vermouth, I buy Carpano Antica Formula, or none at all... again based on our stores only usually stocking the above four brands.

But your stores likely have different brands than ours, so here's a good guide to reference:

Dry Vermouth: The Complete Guide

A comprehensive tasting guide to Dry Vermouth.

www.corpserevived.com

And I was being glib about "worst ever", Spatola is easily worse than Martini and Rossi. But once you switch from the ubiquitous M&R to some of the better or more interesting vermouths, you'll probably find you never go back.

Around here, bars in better restaurants generally stock Dolin. But the place I discovered the magic combination of Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth in a rye Manhattan was the lunch cafe at the Grand Floridian in Disney World, of all places. Those folks know their food, and drink.

Thanks. Our 35th is next month. Getting her some top shelf vermouth for her Manhattans would be a win for me.

She has tried rye, but prefers bourbon. Always balancing her taste and a reasonable budget. She's had Bullit, 4 Roses, Woodford, Craig and a few others. She currently has something called Larceny and found Rivata sweet vermouth last time she was in the city. She's almost out, though.

 

[WinterDeere]

Thanks. Our 35th is next month. Getting her some top shelf vermouth for her Manhattans would be a win for me.

Carpano Antica Formula 1786 is a winner, at least in a rye Manhattan. Some feel it has too much vanilla flavor, but I suspect they're combining it with something that's already sweet, and missing out on the sweet/bitter combination that makes the rye Manhattan such a winner.

Get some Luxardo gourmet cherries to go with it. Excellent cocktail.

She has tried rye, but prefers bourbon.

I also prefer bourbon, for everything except a Manhattan.

 

[Torvy]

Carpano Antica Formula 1786 is a winner, at least in a rye Manhattan. Some feel it has too much vanilla flavor, but I suspect they're combining it with something that's already sweet, and missing out on the sweet/bitter combination that makes the rye Manhattan such a winner.

Get some Luxardo gourmet cherries to go with it. Excellent cocktail.


I also prefer bourbon, for everything except a Manhattan.

She used to use the Luxardo. She figured out she was OK with "Collins".

Stemless Amarena Cherries 13.4 oz

Stemless Amarena Cocktail Cherries – These aren’t your usual supermarket cherries. In fact, these are the best cherries for old fashioned. Discover a jar of sour black cherries that were produced in a century-old tradition in Naples, Italy. Amarena cherries are dark, wild, rich, and complex...

collinschicago.com

 

[tradosaurus]

Yeah, I know I'm the odd-ball. Very few go as "wet" as 2:1 anymore, although that's the more standard recipe from 80 years ago.

Once in awhile, I'll try 6:1 or higher (I think you said yours was 8:1?), and I might even like it if I weren't so used to the older recipe. But it does require good vermouth, when you're inserting that much of the stuff.

I just remembered a party with my neighbors, when they were new to the neighborhood. I offered to make Martini's, and the new neighbor wife was curious to try one. So, I made my most careful mix, 2 parts Sapphire, 1 part Carpano Dry, 1 dash Angostura orange bitters, stirred well, 2 large crisp olives soaked in vermouth, all in a chilled glass... the whole works. Then before I could serve them, the new neighbor husband dumped half a jar of olive juice into his wife's Martini.

She took one sip, made an awful face, said she couldn't drink it. I was too polite to say her idiot husband just served her a glass that was 60% straight olive juice and only 40% Martini. She didn't see the olive juice addition, and probably just thought I was an idiot for making such an awful drink.

I rub the martini glass with a lemon slice and then squeeze a little juice in there glass. I use two shakes of Regans orange bitters. We prefer the taste of the gin over the taste of the vermouth.

I tried a dirty martini and didn’t like it. Maybe in a few years that will change

 

[BackRoad]

I've enjoyed reading this thread...but how in the world did this topic get 130+ posts?!!

 

[ultrarunner]

Even posts from members that don’t drink…

 

[WinterDeere]

Even posts from members that don’t drink…

Sometimes even just to tell us they don't drink. Yeah... we care.