Rachel Maddow martini...

[Trueblue Texan]

Ok, I did my best to make the martini the exact way I remember Rachel said. As she instructed, I didn't eat the olives...not yet anyway. I'm still working on the martini--drinking it, that is, and I have to say, I am just not woman enough to enjoy it. I had to add some triple sec...which technically makes it a Martinez. At least I can drink it now...very slowly. I'll have to check out some of her other drinks. She's not just a brilliant journalist, she is a pretty competent mixologist by reputation. Favorite things of mine.

[Phoenix61]

1. Try Bombay Sapphire Gin. It makes an amazing

martini and is also very good with a top-shelf tonic.

[Demsrule86]

9. That is my favorite gin...love it.

[Hekate]

14. I also like Bombay Sapphire, but aside from ice don't know what to mix it with. Help me?

[Phoenix61]

19. I like it with tonic water, Fever Tree or Q brand

More expensive than Canada Dry etc but so very much better. Half the sugar so it’s got a nice clean taste instead of sugary soda taste.

[Hekate]

20. I picked up some Fever Tree once and it was good. Will look for Q...

Since I actually like the flavor of Bombay, I didn’t want to make a failed martini out of it. On a hot night, it tastes very good with ice.

[Blue_true]

2. She worked as a bartender.

I would like to see her challenge Representative AOC to a mixology contest, with proceeds going to charity.

[silverweb]

15. THAT would be awesome!

I can see AOC taking up Rachel's challenge with gusto and both of them having a ball. It would be great TV, probably hilarious, and something fun to take our minds off all the current crises, if only for a few minutes.

[mitch96]

29. +1

[soothsayer]

3. Ok what does she recommend for this cocktail?

[Trueblue Texan]

5. mostly the classic mix...

1.5 ounces gin (NOT vodka, she is adamant)
.5 ounce dry vermouth
dash of orange bitters

Pour it over ice and shake it like crazy. I shook it so much the top of the shaker froze to the metal cup. pour it in a martini glass and add an olive for garnish. Don't eat the garnish.

Frankly, I love to eat garnishes on drinks...the pretty glass and the garnish is my favorite part of drinking adult beverages! I have to say, maybe it's a Texas thing, but I LOVE mexican martinis and I ALWAYS eat the big, fat queen olives.

[soothsayer]

6. Thanks! The orange bitters are a surprise

I’ll dutifully try it!

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Very safe and traditional martini. I ALWAYS eat the olive, or the onions in a Gibson...

Why would anyone waste the gin absorbed by these tasty vegetables?

Speaking of gin, the only requirement for gin is juniper berries and anything else is a matter of taste. Like so many things, I've found cheap undrinkable gins, but still usually just go for price. Gilbey's is drinkable, as is Beefeater. And with these prohibitions against vodka, vodka is just gin without any taste at all. But, tasteless booze is pretty much for amateurs and alcoholics so it might be avoided by the rest of us on principle.

If you find a classic martini a bit much, there is no law against throwing some sweet vermouth in there. And you know a Mexican martini is just a margarita in a martini glass, right? But there's nothing wrong with that, either. To paraphrase Duke Ellington "If it tastes good, it is good".

Now, here's something to meditate upon:

Some martinis were prepared by filling a cocktail glass with gin, then rubbing a finger of vermouth along the rim. There are those who advocated the elimination of vermouth altogether. According to Noël Coward, "A perfect martini should be made by filling a glass with gin, then waving it in the general direction of Italy", Italy being a major producer of vermouth. Luis Buñuel used the dry martini as part of his creative process, regularly using it to sustain "a reverie in a bar". He offers his own recipe, involving Angostura bitters, in his memoir.

In 1966, the American Standards Association (ASA) released K100.1-1966, "Safety Code and Requirements for Dry Martinis", a tongue-in-cheek account of how to make a "standard" dry martini. The latest revision of this document, K100.1-1974, was published by American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the successor to ASA, though it is no longer an active standard.

[Trueblue Texan]

22. Nope, Mexican martini is like a dirty martini..

with margarita and orange juice. I love them! Love the olive juice and fat queen olives!

[csziggy]

11. When I was a kid, my parents had martinis every night

Since the county we lived in was dry, they'd drive to Tampa once a month and buy a case of gin and a bottle of vermouth. They did not put orange bitters in their martinis. But they had a problem with the olives - they kept disappearing. Finally Mom figured out that all four of her daughters loved olives and we'd sneak them out of the jar that was supposed to be for their martinis.

That Christmas ever of us got a big bottle of olives in our Christmas stockings - with our names on them. We were only allowed to eat the olives out of our own jars and if we ate all of them, we had to buy our own. The tradition continued up to the last Christmas Mom hosted us all, about 2016.

[Karadeniz]

18. Sweet mama!

[Sanity Claws]

4. Martinis are strong!

I’m definitely not woman enough to handle them.
I never heard of a Martinez before. Great name for the drink.

[soothsayer]

7. Two's not enough and three's too many.

Or (as the kids say):

One martini
Two at the most
Three under the table
Four under the host

[Trueblue Texan]

23. eheheheheh...

Never heard that one! Who could drink 4? I'm doing good to get through 1! Has anyone tried almond sparkling wine? if you can't find that, try sparkling wine with a splash of amaretto...lovely!

[soothsayer]

27. Remember in Bewitched where they'd drink pitchers of martinis

Daily!

Woof

[Jeebo]

10. She used to do that regularly on Friday nights.

At the end of the show, closing out the week. She doesn't do it any more, hasn't done it in ... I don't know, two or three years, it seems like.

Another thing I miss is her "Best New Thing In The World" feature. She would often end her show with one of those, she did one two or three weeks ago, but she rarely does it any more.

Oh, and I almost forgot, the contest at the end of the week when she invited a caller to answer questions from the week's Rachel Maddow shows for a silly prize, usually something they found around their studio somewhere, something almost worthless except as a memento. They stopped doing that two or three years ago.

I might miss these features of her show, but no matter, I'll keep watching anyway.

-- Ron

[csziggy]

12. She had to stop the Friday night drinks when Friday night news dumped got so regular

Too bad, even though I don't drink and never drank cocktails, it was fun watching her mix them up.

[mucifer]

28. Yup, back when things were stable under President Obama. Now she can't fit enough of the

reporting on evil in one hour.

[mitch96]

13. "she is a pretty competent mixologist"

I didn't know that.... Thanks!! Ya learn somptin new 'evar dey..........
m

[Tribetime]

16. My powers out what did I miss?

[electric_blue68]

17. Rachel used to talk Mixology on Air America Radio! :D

[blogslut]

21. I'm not a fan of the taste of liquors - gin, rum, vodka, bourbon, scotch & tequila

Last edited Sat Aug 29, 2020, 02:10 AM - Edit history (1)

That's why I don't like martinis or other cocktails where the liquor is the star. The closest I can get to tolerating one is a gimlet and even then I prefer it be topped off with tonic.

[Trueblue Texan]

24. There was some kind of gimlet I used to drink at...

...Napa Flats...a little Italian chain... It was called cucumber gimlet I think and it had cucumber water, cucumber slices and cilantro in it. I can't remember what liquor was in it but it was something white...I love it

[blogslut]

25. Gin is the standard with Vodka being the alternate

I'm not sure the recipe of your drink but a traditional gimlet is gin + Rose's lime cordial. However the variations of the recipe are numerous.

[Wolf Frankula]

26. Make a Mencken Martini

Chill a cocktail glass well. Fill it with dry vermouth. Pour the vermouth back into the bottle. Fill it with chilled gin. How does it taste?
I don't know. I haven't had one in twenty years.

Wolf