Martini O'clock

Personality for Martinis

2008-08-25T13:40:00.005-04:00

Martinis are just plain essential to a life worth living. Sometimes, however, that classic clear cocktail glass just seems, well, boring.

There is a whole market out there serving the decorated martini glass lover demographic.

I discovered Lolita a couple of years ago and probably have almost 2 dozen of her designs. Not only does she make themed martini glasses but she puts a recipe on the bottom of each glass, too, like this one.

Red Panty

These make great additions to your martini glass collection and also make perfect gifts for almost all occasions.

I like this one...it is the namesake of my other blog...The Dirty Martini.

Dirty Martini

Here are a few other cool designs:

Wedding Martini

Almost Famous Martini (for Austin Girl?)

Chocolate Martini

Flip Flops (Meg)

And many, many more.

In her little book that comes with the glasses Lolita (Tracy Lolita Yancey) states that she comes from a lineage of inventors. She started her career in the fashion industry working for the likes of Christian Dior and Donna Karan. In 2000, however, she returned to her first love: art and design. I’m glad she did.

Not only are the glasses fun to drink from, they also make great collectibles. And, she also does margarita glasses, shot glasses, pilsner glasses and produces other cool products.

You can find her on the web by just doing a search on any part of her name. You won’t be disappointed. They will be great for just adding personality to your martini or as a gift for that discerning martini lover.

Aren’t we all?

A-6Dude

Sour Apple Martini

2008-08-17T12:02:00.007-04:00

This is a good one for Spring, Summer or Fall…heck, anytime of year, really.

2 parts Vodka
2 parts Sour Apple Pucker
1 part Cointreau
Maraschino Cherry

Add vodka

Sour Apple Pucker

and Cointreau to a shaker with ice.

Shake until almost too cold to hold. It should be frosty!

Pull out your chilled martini glass from the freezer and

Strain ingredients into the glass.

Looks good, eh? Not yet.

Add a maraschino cherry to garnish.

And now you are ready to enjoy!

Feel free to play with the portions to obtain the flavor you like. The one pictured above was good just the way it came out ;-}

Credits: Thanks to my hand model and official drink tester ... my wife. My hands are too hairy to be photogenic.

A-6Dude

Dirty Martini

2008-08-03T22:11:00.006-04:00

Dirty Martini Recipe

2 parts Vodka
Vermouth to taste
Olive Brine to taste
Olives

Welcome to my first post on my new blog site. On the right side you will see what this site is about.

So first, a couple of things.

When making a martini (or any drink for that matter) use the best quality ingredients you can afford/find. Better ingredients make better drinks.

I will use the measure of a 'part'. A part is an equal measure. So if I say use 2 parts of ingredient A and 4 parts of ingredient B, then it doesn't matter if you are measuring a part as 1 oz., 2 oz., or whatever. As long as the 'part' measure is the same then the world will be right.

Let's get started with my favorite martini...the Dirty Martini.

Here are the ingredients I used for this recipe. As I said, I don't endorse one brand or product over another. I do recommend you use the best you can afford, though.

Add ice to your shaker.

Add ingredients.

This next step is optional...Vermouth. I like my martinis dry to arid. That means either very little vermouth or none at all. I also like to use a vermouth spritzer. You can add 2-3 sprays now or after everything has been put in the glass. I prefer the latter but there is no real rule.

Shake the ingredients until the shaker is VERY cold. I do it until I can almost no longer hold it in my hands. The shaker should have a nice frosty coating on it now.

Pull out a chilled martini glass. I keep mine in a freezer but if you can't do that then you can put ice in the glass and let is sit for 3-5 minutes. The colder the glass the better the drink.

Add olives. I like to add olives before I pour the drink into the glass. This way, I don't have to worry about adding the olives and spilling good martinis...that would be alcohol abuse.

Strain the shaken ingredients into the chilled glass.

Are you thirsty, yet?

Add olive brine to taste. You will have to experiment to see what you perfer here.

And now...enjoy a great martini.

Let me know how you like this recipe. Send me your favorite recipes and I will try to make a post out of preparing them too.

A-6Dude