Shaken? Stirred? Olive? Twist? Gin? Vodka \u2026 or something completely different?<\/p>\n
Few subjects will rile up a cocktail connoisseur like how to correctly serve a martini.<\/p>\n
And then there are the completely out-of-the-box preparations that have cropped up to open up the debate even further. From the post-\u201cSex and the City\u201d cosmopolitan trend to the glut of neon-green appletinis to the current buzz around the espresso martini, from lychee to chai tea to cotton candy to pico de gallo, any flavor or color can work in a chilled, stemmed glass \u2014 if the recipe is right.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve gone off the rails lately,\u201d laughed Kelsie Sinagra, general manager at Bar Botanico in Lawrenceville. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a Greek salad martini that\u2019ll be on the docket soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
The classic cocktail\u2019s origin may be contentious, but we do know that the martini has been around since the 19th century. It\u2019s not a complicated recipe, but that makes it all the more difficult to perfect \u2013 for a drink with such a short ingredient list, it\u2019s infinitely customizable.<\/p>\n
But for those uninterested in the alcohol-forward bare-bones cocktail, bartenders have spent decades widening their repertoires and trying every ingredient under the sun to put their own twist on the original.<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re looking to cosplay James Bond or try something totally different, these drinks have you covered.<\/p>\n
Keeping it classic<\/p>\n
A martini, in its simplest form, is two parts gin and one part vermouth straight up in a glass.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not even close to the whole story.<\/p>\n
Andrew Poluszejko, general manager of fl.2, the bar and restaurant at the Fairmont in Downtown Pittsburgh, said that they get a near equal balance between patrons ordering gin and vodka martinis. While vodka isn\u2019t the most traditional spirit for the drink, it\u2019s a long-accepted alternative.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends on the crowd,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it be after work or if you\u2019re going to a Penguins game or Pirates game, it just depends on who\u2019s coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that he prefers the gin version of the cocktail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the botanicals of them. Especially in my two favorite gins, Monkey 47 and Sipsmith,\u201d Poluszejko said. \u201cYou can make a really good martini with those.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimberly Fredenberg, bar manager at Bar Nine in Greensburg, said that the vodka martini is the more popular application at her bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI usually assume vodka. I do ask, but vodka is definitely more popular,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sinagra said that she prefers gin so much that she spent a lot of time perfecting their version of a classic martini. It\u2019s called the white whale, and it\u2019s made with Grey Whale gin, Hayman\u2019s Old Tom gin, Iris Blanco Vermut, toasted almond and olive oil.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a staple now that we\u2019ve had for years, and I don\u2019t see her going anywhere. She\u2019s got quite a following,\u201d Sinagra said.<\/p>\n
The olive oil is a nod to the most common garnish for a martini, a green olive. But that\u2019s by no means the only option for those who want to keep it simple.<\/p>\n
For example, Poluszejko prefers a gin martini with a twist, or a lemon peel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to have that citrus forward where I can smell it on the top but also just get a taste of it on the rim as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s another option that the experts were quick to point out: the cocktail onion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you\u2019ll be having Gibsons,\u201d Poluszejko said, noting that the name of the drink does change with the switch-up in accoutrements.<\/p>\n
Fredenberg is a huge fan of olives, so she\u2019ll stick with the expected garnish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love olives. I love the bleu cheese-stuffed ones, the garlic-stuffed ones, just give me a bowl of olives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Fredenberg also said that pickles or cornichons can be an \u201cexcellent\u201d swap for olives, if you don\u2019t enjoy the more common fruity accompaniment.<\/p>\n
Sinagra is very flexible when it comes to the garnish on her classic martinis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends on the gin I\u2019m drinking, if I think citrus is going to make it more vibrant or if I want something salty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the controversy started by James Bond: shaken or stirred?<\/p>\n
Many alcohol lovers insist that shaken martinis are objectively worse because they cause the drink to get colder and have more contact with smaller chips of ice, thus watering it down. While the experts typically stir their drinks, they don\u2019t have a problem with the workout from shaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s merit to both styles, but I like clean, ice-chip-free, very cold and crisp martinis,\u201d Sinagra said, declaring that she always stirs.<\/p>\n
Fredenberg, on the other hand, is a fan of the ice chips that come in a shaken martini.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve gotten used to assuming it\u2019s shaken because the people who prefer it stirred, that\u2019s just part of the order,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tasting the rainbow<\/p>\n
Flavored martinis may spell sacrilege to some, but they\u2019re big business. Sinagra said that she doesn\u2019t even have an espresso martini on her menu and they still make loads of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of our top sellers every night,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
fl.2 also has a very popular espresso martini, which Poluszejko described with gusto.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking sure there\u2019s a balance between the espresso, the vodka and just making sure there\u2019s a touch of everything else needed. It\u2019s well balanced, it\u2019s not overly sweet, it\u2019s not overly strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drink is made carefully with Tito\u2019s vodka, espresso, Kahlua and butterscotch.<\/p>\n
At Bar Nine, Fredenberg fondly recalls a s\u2019mores espresso martini that they featured last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were freshly toasting marshmallows in front of everyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But one of Fredenberg\u2019s favorite variations is the highly versatile lemon drop, typically made with two parts vodka, one part lemon juice, one part simple syrup and a half part triple sec.<\/p>\n
\u201cLemon drop martinis never fail,\u201d she said. Bar Nine also has lots of fruity purees and juices, so she loves jazzing up the martinis with different flavors, from blackberry to lychee to other types of citrus.<\/p>\n
As far as Fredenberg is concerned, the sky is the limit for this iconic drink.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get down with a genuine martini, I have to be in the mood,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I love the flavored ones. I love different variations of ones with whiskeys, tequilas, you know? Tons of different flavors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shaken? Stirred? Olive? Twist? Gin? Vodka \u2026 or something completely different? Few subjects will rile up a cocktail…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-270130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}