Old-Fashioned
Robert Simonson
1813 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,813
2 minutes
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Fill a mixing glass with ice.
Pour in the gin and vermouth.
Stir for 30 seconds, then strain into a chilled coupe.
Twist the lemon peel over the drink, then place it on the coupe’s edge. The mildly adventurous can garnish with a fresh sage leaf instead.
This presents the classic issues. First, what is the gin to vermouth ratio? Second, olives or lemon peel?
Charles Dickens walks into a bar. "Sam, I've written the best book of my life, but can't think of a name for the book or the main character. I'm at a loss"
"Well, have a martini and think about it."
"OK. On the rocks."
"Olive or twist?"
Noilly Prat changed its recipe several years ago. and for Martini purposes, the current version is not so good. the closest substitute I've found is Dolin.
I prefer my martini on the rocks with five parts gin to one part vermouth and extra olives.
I lean towards Tanqueray for martinis, and like some dry vermouth even if I'm less picky on its brand. Lemon twist beats olives every time in my book. But what really makes it work? A good dash of orange bitters.
I agree. Dolin is preferable.
About 5:1, on the rocks, with Lillet Blanc
Hendrick's is the superior gin. Beefeater's? The McDonald's of gin.
Beefeater is a classic London dry gin and makes a wonderful martini. Just because it is too dry for your taste hardly makes it "the McDonald's of gin."
I disagree, Hendrick’s is not a superior gin, and it’s certainly isn’t a London dry. Maybe it has bigger marketing budget, or some people think it’s better because it costs more?
Perfection!!
Nolet's gin and Dolin with a dash of orange bitters! The bomb!
Thank you for reminding us how simple this classic drink is. Why is it soooo hard to get a good one at a bar? I almost feel like printing up some recipe cards and handing them out when I order. I will admit I struggle with the question of olive or twist. I sometimes add a splash of bitters but it changes the look from clear to slightly cloudy. Cheers!
A friend made us martinis with pickled okra as a garnish. Loved it! Since then I’ve made some with pickled watermelon. Love it, too!
I like mine with Beefeaters GIn mixed 6 parts gin to 1 part dry vermouth. There is not a lot of choice of Vermouth here as I live is a small town in the westernmost tip of North Carolina, but Martini and Rossi seems to work fine. I also like three queen sized olives. MAnzetti offers a queen sized martini olive that is put up in vermouth. Those work for me. As gauche as it may be, I order ice on the side and add it as needed to keep the drink cold. It rarely has a chance to melt and dilute it.
A couple of dashes of orange bitters changed my opinion on martinis. It evens out the vermouth and adds dimension to the drink.
I'm fully on board with this, I have tried many brands of orange bitters but I prefer Regan's number 6.
I lean towards Tanqueray for martinis, and like some dry vermouth even if I'm less picky on its brand. Lemon twist beats olives every time in my book. But what really makes it work? A good dash of orange bitters.
I also love Tanqueray in a bracingly cold Martini!!
Noilly Prat changed its recipe several years ago. and for Martini purposes, the current version is not so good. the closest substitute I've found is Dolin.
I agree. Dolin is preferable.
Dolin for the win
I prefer my martini on the rocks with five parts gin to one part vermouth and extra olives.
This presents the classic issues. First, what is the gin to vermouth ratio? Second, olives or lemon peel?
Charles Dickens walks into a bar. "Sam, I've written the best book of my life, but can't think of a name for the book or the main character. I'm at a loss"
"Well, have a martini and think about it."
"OK. On the rocks."
"Olive or twist?"
That's what I order at the bar, the Charles Dickens, because there's no olive or twist. Certain people may dispute that claiming that Charles Dickens actually had an Oliver Twist but those people are too concrete in their thinking and must be disregarded/discarded.
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