Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Can anyone explain the appeal of the martini? I have had 1 or 2 before and I seem to recall thinking it tasted like how I imagine gasoline tastes. I believe one was a "clean" martini with just the gin and vermouth, and the other was mixed "dirty" with olive brine and an olive. (I don't believe I have had a Vodka martini)
I don't find gin to be that objectionable, so I'm guessing it's the vermouth that I don't like.
I ask because I was at a bar recently and overheard the bartender explaining how there is a trend on the west coast to make martinis with a 1:1 ratio of gin and vermouth now.
I was stumbling around Manhattan with a group of old friends and we ended up in a very posh looking old school bar, bartender had a little jacket on and everything. Don't know if I noticed the name of the place and would never remember it now, anyway.
I'm not sure why it came to mind, but I told my group I had never tried a plain old martini and it was time to do so. I took one sip and found it just revolting, but I decided to just choke it down and get something good to replace it. The bartender must have seen my face and said he could just dump the martini and he'd make me something more to my tastes at no charge, but I told him I wanted to be able to say I had consumed a martini and was dead set on getting the job done. Perhaps a bit vainglorious of me given that I was paying $25 or so for the pleasure of drinking something that repulsed me...
I think it was the gin, the martini tasted like a juniper bush smells. The only way I have found that I like gin is in a Last Word, along with green Chartreuse and a few other things...it's actually my favorite drink. I seem to remember a time when a martini that was almost all gin was in vogue and some bars would have little sprayers to give the drink just the tiniest whiff of vermouth.