I would like to get opinions about the best vodka and best olives for martinis. As a non-expert, my personal preference on vodka is something like Ketel One (which has a bit of a bite to it) over something like Grey Goose (which is a bit too smooth for my taste). For olives, I usually grab whatever looks best when I'm in the market, but I would really like to know what the "ultimate martini olive" is (if there is one).
Try Tito's or Deep Eddie's. Both from Texas (Coincidence) but both very clean and good. No nothing about Olives as I do not do Martini's. But Vodka Sours-Yes!!
My wife and several friends were dedicated Ketel One and Grey Goose drinkers and they ALL have happily switched to Tito's. Try Sonoma brand Olives
I'm a purist when it comes to martini olives (and most other things)...what you want are PITTED "Queen" (=large) olives. No god-damn pimentos, anchovies, garlic, blue cheese or almonds in the olives, please! And use a high quality dry vermouth (sparingly)...I prefer Noilly Prat.
If you like Ketel One then Tito's will be too smooth for you. Try Belvedere. I like blue-cheese stuffed olives when I have a martini.
Thanks for all the feedback. I suppose olives stuffed with Spam would not technically qualify as "purist" either This is the first I've heard of orange bitters. Will have to give it a try.
There's a lot of bs out there, but the martini came from the manhattan. Yeah, a chick drink, imagine that. Of course, the real masters of the universe don't drink gin martinis anymore. They just gulp down frozen vodka.
Huh? Manhattan is a chick drink? Are you thinking Cosmopolitan instead? A Vodka 'martini' (sic) is a chick drink compared to the Manhattans I drink. I think the sequence is Manhattan > Martinez > Martini. I think Gin was sweet when the Martinez was created...it became Martini when 'dry' gin was used. 'London Dry Gin' is a phrase you see today.
I'm with Steve R...nothing chick about a well-crafted Manhattan...all booze, no fillers, just whiskey, sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters. Two will mellow you out but good, three will knock you out.
From a REAL chick: I like a martini Two at the most. At three, I'm under the table. With four, I'm under my host. - Dorothy Parker
Steve. Yes, and often made with a sweeter gin like Old Tom. This is all open to debate, but early classic martini were 3 to 4 parts gin to vermouth and the dash or two of bitters helped cut the sweetness. As tastes moved toward drier martini (less vermouth) the essential addition of orange bitters was forgotten. In the 70's and 80's we used to have a drink now and then in the old Algonquin Hotel bar, where the same funky overstuffed furniture had accommodated Dorothy's rear end decades earlier.
You're probably right on the Cosmo. You see, where I come from anything other than ice makes a drink a chick drink. Great stuff. Now, you're talking. Despite my crack about chick drinks, a real martini made with Indian gin (juniper berries), a couple of shakes of Noilly Prat vermouth, and dash or two of orange bitters, served straight up in a frozen martini glass and three olives (I like jalapeno or blue cheese) is pretty damn good. If you're sitting on the deck, watching the sun set, with the angled light bouncing off the glinted water, those first few sips start hinting of those winds of the old days when, well, when you used to do those things you don't do no more. You know, the promise of feeling good and it's Saturday night. Damn, I'm getting thirsty.
Not a big martini drinker myself. But years back was visiting my uncle. We were enjoying a drink or two one evening and I told him I'd get him a drink. He then informed me how to make "his" proper vodka martini. He said to open the bottle of vermouth, wave the cap over his glass then fill with vodka. Spear a couple olives and he was good. ( It might have been gin though, I don't remember). I do love either gin or vodka with lime and a splash of tonic though.
Tito's for everything and anything. (How is a spirit made from corn, and not potatoes, a vodka? I dunno, but it's great!) Matt
Tito's is outstanding and 1/2 the cost of Goose. I love blue cheese stuffed olives but the trick is to stuff your own. Most that come in a jar are terrible - I've throw plenty of $8 jars in the trash after a near vomit experience
This is my drink: Stoli on the rocks, stuff your own olives with fresh gorgonzola NOT blue cheese. Enjoy!
I agree, I love Tito's. But it's the smoothest vodka out there. The OP was looking for a vodka with a "bite" to it. As I recommended Belvedere is a good vodka with a kick. That stuff is like gasoline! DIY blue cheese stuffed olives sounds interesting.