What are you drinking?

[bhodges]

I've been drinking dirty martinis lately and wondered if anyone else liked them.

I do!  (Mostly with gin, but the vodka ones are fine, too.)  The first time I had one was with a female friend in New Orleans, who asked the bartender to make hers "absolutely filthy!"    If you don't use too much olive juice (too salty) they are just delicious.  I've been using garlic stuffed olives lately (here they are) and using 3 or 4 is usually enough to "dirty" the drink. 

--Bruce

[mn dave]

I do!  (Mostly with gin, but the vodka ones are fine, too.)  The first time I had one was with a female friend in New Orleans, who asked the bartender to make hers "absolutely filthy!"    If you don't use too much olive juice (too salty) they are just delicious.  I've been using garlic stuffed olives lately (here they are) and using 3 or 4 is usually enough to "dirty" the drink. 

--Bruce

Okay. What makes it "dirty?"

[bhodges]

Okay. What makes it "dirty?"

It's the olive juice and tiny olive bits--they make the martini slightly cloudy, with some debris floating around.  (Not so much that, for example, you can't see through the drink--just like a teaspoon or so of the olive juice is usually enough.)

Edit: Here is a recipe, which calls for 2 tablespoons of juice (might be a little salty).

--Bruce

[mn dave]

It's the olive juice and tiny olive bits--they make the martini slightly cloudy, with some debris floating around.  (Not so much that, for example, you can't see through the drink--just like a teaspoon or so of the olive juice is usually enough.)

Edit: Here is a recipe, which calls for 2 tablespoons of juice (might be a little salty).

--Bruce

Ooo. And I assume most bartenders know what it is when I ask for one?

[bhodges]

Ooo. And I assume most bartenders know what it is when I ask for one?

These days, I think so.  It seems to be popular everywhere.  (My sister and I had them in Minneapolis, at St. Petersburg in Robbinsdale,  located right above an American Legion Hall.  )

--Bruce

[mn dave]

These days, I think so.  It seems to be popular everywhere.  (My sister and I had them in Minneapolis, at St. Petersburg in Robbinsdale,  located right above an American Legion Hall.  )

--Bruce

I work in Robbinsdale. 

[bhodges]

I work in Robbinsdale. 

  Well then, you must try this place immediately!  (If you haven't already.)   

--Bruce

[Sergeant Rock]

The first time I had one was with a female friend in New Orleans, who asked the bartender to make hers "absolutely filthy!"   

Love it 

I've gotten my recipe down now, I think. Four parts vodka, just a splash of vermouth, five or six olives spooned out of the jar with a very small spoon (half the size of a teaspoon). Very little brine, in other words.

My favorite regular martini recipe: four parts gin (or vodka), ice, and then you bring your mouth very close to the shaker and whisper the word vermouth before shaking or stirring 

I've been using garlic stuffed olives lately

Wow...that's different. I'll have to try that (we get great garlic stuffed olives from a Turkish guy who has a stall in the mall).

Sarge

[mn dave]

  Well then, you must try this place immediately!  (If you haven't already.)   

--Bruce

I tend to flee from Robbinsdale once the whistle blows.

[marvinbrown]

Time to resurrect this thread.   

Earl Grey tea from Upton Tea Imports.

  Keemun a most civilized choice indeed!   

  marvin

[Keemun]

Not the whole six-pack at once. 

Lightweight. 

  Keemun a most civilized choice indeed!   

I'm glad you approve. 

[bhodges]

I've gotten my recipe down now, I think. Four parts vodka, just a splash of vermouth, five or six olives spooned out of the jar with a very small spoon (half the size of a teaspoon). Very little brine, in other words.

That sounds great.  (Although I am mystified why vermouth is so demonized.  I like the flavor, and without it all you have is just a "big glass o' gin."  Not that there's anything wrong with that... )

The garlic olives work great in martinis.  The ones stuffed with blue cheese or feta, to me don't work quite as well.

--Bruce

[marvinbrown]

I'm glad you approve. 

  How could I not, my kitchen cabinets are stocked with Earl Grey and English Breakfast tea bags.  Though I will shamefully  admit that I am unfamiliar with Keemun Tea.

  marvin

[Keemun]

  How could I not, my kitchen cabinets are stocked with Earl Grey and English Breakfast tea bags.  Though I will shamefully  admit that I am unfamiliar with Keemun Tea.

  marvin

Keemun is a wonderful tea, and one of my favorites (hence my username).   I was first introduced to it in an English Breakfast blend that contained Keemun.  I generally drink tea made from loose leaves rather than tea bags, as I like the flavor better.  What brand of tea do you like?  Twinings Earl Grey was the first tea I ever tried and is still one of my favorite Earl Greys. 

[SonicMan46]

  Well then, you must try this place immediately!  (If you haven't already.)   

Bruce - have not been to Minneapolis in a while, but that bar/restaurant sounds great!  I'm surprised that Dave has not sampled the food & drink there yet? 

BTW, loved your reference to the Mt. Athos olives!  That mountain in Greece is FAMOUS! A World Heritage Site, famous for numerous monasteries, esp. during the Byzantine empire! 

[mn dave]

I'm surprised that Dave has not sampled the food & drink there yet?

I didn't even know it existed till Bruce mentioned it. I don't drink much and not usually right after work. And I'm a gin man. 

[Sergeant Rock]

That sounds great.  (Although I am mystified why vermouth is so demonized.  I like the flavor, and without it all you have is just a "big glass o' gin."  Not that there's anything wrong with that... )

    What would we do without Seinfeld 

About Vermouth...I don't know. I'm a wine drinker; vermouth always tasted like an oxidized wine to me...spoiled wine, in other words. And I've never enjoyed the classic cocktails made with vermouth (Manhattans, Martinis). But I kept trying, both the cocktails and vermouth straight. The dirty martini is the first cocktail made with vermouth that I've really enjoyed. Once accustomed to the taste, I tried drinking vermouth straight the other night and I found myself drinking a second glass. So my taste may be changing. But still, I prefer my martinis very dry, with little vermouth. I recently saw a recipe for a martini that instructed you to put a jigger of vermouth in the shaker, swirl it around so the sides of the shaker got wet, and then to pour it out before adding the gin. A serious recipe...and a really dry martini 

Sarge

[marvinbrown]

Keemun is a wonderful tea, and one of my favorites (hence my username).   I was first introduced to it in an English Breakfast blend that contained Keemun.  I generally drink tea made from loose leaves rather than tea bags, as I like the flavor better.  What brand of tea do you like?  Twinings Earl Grey was the first tea I ever tried and is still one of my favorite Earl Greys. 

  I drink English Breakfast tea the most in the morning, usually with a cheese sandwich.  I also love mint tea especially with the mint leaves in the tea and earl grey tea.  Teas that have a fruity taste (strawberry, rasberry etc.) don't interest me much.

  marvin

[toledobass]

Speaking of egg whites in cocktails I've been drinking a lot of Ramos Gin fizzes lately. 

Allan

[bhodges]

Speaking of egg whites in cocktails I've been drinking a lot of Ramos Gin fizzes lately. 

Allan

Now there's a drink you don't see mentioned much lately!  Very retro...

--Bruce