El Justo's Famous Martini
ahh...sticking w/ the booze theme, here is my time-tested martini recipe.
i'll admit that it is an acquired taste yet at the same time it is the elixir of all elixirs!
anyhow, martinis are powerful cocktails that can really take the edge off. i like to have 1 or 2 of them before a nice dinner out on the town. be careful though, they're extremely potent. they contain 100% liquor and, if consumed by a light weight, can be disaterous.
this recipe is an "extra dry", "stirred" but not "shaken" and is "straight up".
ingredients:
top shelf vodka or gin (i prefer vodka)
dry vermouth (any brand really...the most common in my parts is martini & rossi)
ice
spanish olives or lemon twist
suggested liquors:
vodka: there are several...absolut, skyy, stolichnaya (stoli), grey goose, mezaluna
gin: tanquerrey, bombay, beefeaters
bar utensils:
16 oz pint glass (for mixing)
spoon
bar strainer
martini glass
start out by either putting the martini glasses into the freezer or into a pile of ice so that they get as cold as possible
- fill the pint glass to the rim with ice
- pour about a cap full (give or take) of dry vermouth into the glass
- muddle it very well w/ the spoon and dump ALL of the vermouth into the sink using the bar strainer (so as to not dump the ice, just the vermouth)
- fill ice to rim again if it melted some
- pour vodka/gin into the pint glass; leave about 2 fingers width space from the rim of the glass
- muddle again very well; add even more ice to the glass if you see that it has melted even more. the more ice the better!
- pull the martini glasses from the cold and strain your mixture into the glass
- garnish w/ either some olives or lemon twist
*if using the lemon twist, wipe the underside of the lemon twist around the rim of the glass so that the oils/flavor of the lemon is added. this is a classy touch
the proper way to order this sucker at a bar:
"May I have a Stoli martini, extra dry, straight up with some olives please."
bottoms up!