Shaken, stirred, whatever…
I have been known to enjoy a vodka martini from time to time. So it was with great interest that I rushed to read Slate’s vodka round-up, but I was a little disappointed. The judging methodology was a bit off the mark for a martini drinker (straight shots followed by Russian appetizers), and one has to question the judges’ ability after sampling all of those vodkas in a single sitting.
Ultimately, the winner was Chopin, a not altogether horrible choice. Interestingly, Grey Goose was derided for being too smooth and subtle - which I suppose is a bad thing if you’re doing shots, but exactly why it’s a great vodka for making flavored martinis.
I would be interested to see how a couple of other vodkas would have fared - one of Desiree’s favorite restaurants swears by Vox for its martinis; personally, I’ve been enjoying Effen recently. Not only is it an excellent vodka, but you also get the guilty pleasure of saying “gimme an Effen martini!” as though you’re being surly but stopping yourself just short of being profane. As chance would have it, both Vox and Effen (as well as Ketel One and Van Gogh, which makes wonderful flavored vodkas, if you’re into that) are all products of The Netherlands - who would have guessed that the Dutch could make such fine spirits?
September 29th, 2004 at 1:37 pm
I suppose I should begin with the note that I tend to drink vodka neat or in a straight martini (which is nearly neat anyway).
I have yet to try a decent mass-market flavoured vodka in either the US or the UK. The Absolut ones are notably terrible, as is their normal vodka. Maybe I’ll taste the Van Gogh at some point to see if it breaks the curse.
Chopin and Grey Goose are both solid choices. Haven’t tried Effen yet.
If you’re a vodka aficionado and you ever happen to visit London, there’s a few decent Polish bars where you can get some really good Polish and Russian flavoured vodkas. I’m sure there’s equivalents in some of the bigger American cities but I haven’t personally seen a Polish bar here yet.
Basic Stolichnaya is ok to drink neat in a pinch but obviously it’s better to mix it. It’s worth noting that Stoli put out a few expensive “premium” versions, all of which are significantly better than the basic brand. I had a particularly good black-labelled one (not Stoli Gold) back in 2000 for New Year’s but haven’t seen it since.
++Clamatius
September 30th, 2004 at 2:30 pm
I agree - a straight martini should be just enough vermouth to coat the class, and then 1 part vodka, 1 part vodka, and, finally, 1 part vodka.
I keep a good stock of Grey Goose for this purpose, but as I mentioned, I am beginning to prefer Effen over Grey Goose. I’ve also been told that Brilliant Vodka is remarkably clean (my personal preference) as well and, despite its Scottish pedigree, it’s performed well in lots of international contests (including in Russia). I’ve yet to find it to try it out, though.
September 30th, 2004 at 4:39 pm
The famous quote on the right amount of vermouth to use in a martini is to say “vermouth” over the glass, of course. Or to point the vermouth bottle at the glass.
My method is (for a dry martini, which imho is the point of a martini):
* add ice cubes to shaker
* add v. small splash of vermouth to shaker
* shake
* strain vermouth out well (the vermouth will now have added a little flavour to the ice cubes, but not enough to overpower the spirit)
* add gin or vodka
* shake
* wait a little bit till the shaker just starts to ice up. You want it to be as cold as possible without having ice in the glass.
* pour
++Clamatius