Martini 101 With Larry Miller
Larry does an unplanned 20 minute tutorial on making martinis, then apologizes for his previous apologies.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This is the first time a drink recipe has included the expressions, “Show it who’s boss,” “Big triple to the power alley” and “Beat it around the fleet.”As always, all stories are guaranteed true and stirred, not shaken.
Quote of the week: “Fellas, you look lonely. Would you like to meet someone who’s just like you?”
Enjoy the show? Tell a friend! And check out www.larrymillerhumor.com
Or follow Larry on Twitter @larryjmiller
Show Credits
Producer: Colonel Jeff Fox
Audio Engineer: Dr. Chris Laxamana, LMDS
15 Comments
Grant Young
Hoo boy, that’s it. I’m swearing off booze entirely now.
LarryE
I think Larry has the right idea about martinis. First, as he says, straight gin is not a martini. Second, he’s right — you can’t “bruise” gin. You want to get your martini ice-cold, and Larry’s intensive stir accomplishes it.
And about the proportions — Larry’s martini ends up with a gin-to-vermouth ratio of 6-to-1. That’s reasonable, I think. Eric Felton, writer of the old Wall Street Journal column “How’s Your Drink,” said he likes 4-to-1, or maybe he said the classic, consensus recipe is 4-to-1. That sounds reasonable too, and in the same ballpark as Larry.
But I can’t see drinking straight gin. It’s too harsh/strong.
Grant Young
So was it Spenser’s Steak House that you had the Martini at? I assume your son took the baseball clinic at the new ballpark downtown. How come no LM show in Omaha while you were here? Would have loved to had gone, but now Lincoln is too far away because it is 5 degrees outside. Get a flat tire and freeze to death trying to change it.
CircleCity
When I was bartending, I would always pour the vermouth into the shaker with ice first, swirl it around and then pour out the vermouth before adding the vodka or gin. The vermouth coats the ice and gives you a little flavor flavor but still produces a very dry martini. The old, grizzled martini drinkers who would come in always loved them, so they can’t be wrong. Cheers!
gwk
Larry, Thanks for the great martini-cast. Maybe you can use your bully-pulpit to rail against the evils of non-gin tini’s, especially the vodka martini. And what about the twist instead of an olive? Few bartenders know how to do a proper lemon peel twist. Done right, they are fantastic. Cheers.
Nerdychef
Love this ‘cast. Want to share my favorite martini with you.
2 oz. Gin (I use Martin Miller’s)
2 oz. Vodka (Best you can find – I use Stoli Elit)
.5 oz. Lillet Blanc (a substitute for vermouth)
Shake gently with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Peel a small piece of lemon rind over the glass as a garnish. Clean, refreshing, and perfect. Please Mr. Miller, let me make one of these for you, should you ever come to the middle of Illinois. Martinis will never be the same again. Thanks for the great podcast, Larry.
raZr
I can’t leave this subject without adding my expertise (as it were). NO ICE AT ALL! I repeat…no, I guess you heard me. Ice dilutes what is surely all the goodness with which God blessed gin or vodka. The perfect martini must be ice cold. Therefore you must always store it IN YOUR FREEZER! It comes out viscous and velvety thick from near freezing. Then simply add your vermouth (for me a small vermouth bottle cap full) No shaking. No stirring. No melted ice(read: water)
Perfection. In fact the last one I made was stolen from me by a giant anthropomorphic hand that came from the clouds above and whisked it away before I could even taste it….
Andy90
Great stuff. The soap-chip arc of achievement was both funny and inspiring.
donewithidiots
Good stuff. Like the drinking stories. Everyone can certainly relate. Buying a fellow American a Jamesons like you did is always a GOOD thing. Old school is the way to go. I’m sure that Marine enjoyed it. I like you even more now that I’ve heard you tell that tale. It’s nice to hear of people treating others like that.
Paul Bird
I get a kick out of hearing the orchestra and dancers each week and what a thrill it is to hear my name. If only for a fleeting moment.
Ross
Forget the movies–the “shaken, not stirred”/bruising the gin matters only because Bond doesn’t start drinking vodka until he invents a new cocktail & names it for Vesper Lynd(in the first novel, “Casino Royale”). People who _think_ they like Bond should really read that first book: contrary to the suave, never-a-hair-out-of-place gourmand the movies made him into(which is, ironically, much closer to the real-life inspiration for the character, a worldly double-agent who Fleming debriefed in Lisbon at the end of WWII), he’s ragged from a red-eye back from his last assignment, where he had to kill a man bare-handed(& badly bruised the bones in one hand doing so) and the care he takes w/his food & drink is something he’s made himself do over the years to distract himself a little from the fact that he almost always eats alone.
And, by the way, it’s pronounced “Leed” because it’s a German name(w/”ie” & “ei”, you pronounce that syllable as if saying the SECOND vowel in its long English form–“ie”= Eng “ee”, “ei”=Eng “eye”). Here endeth the lesson.
Ross
Oh, and “Lied” in German is “song”, which is why I laugh when people mispronounce “Lederhosen”(“LAY-dehr-HO-zen”, lit. “leather hose, the old catch-all term for any leg covering, like pants) as “leeder-hosen”; either they would be pants you only wear when belting out a tune, or(more disturbingly) your pants are so in need of a wash, they not only walk of their own accord, but have developed a culture of their own, & have made it as far as show-tunes & ballot-box stuffing.
Or they just corduroy, & you have fat thighs…
John Montagna
I’ve never been a martini guy (or a gin guy, for that matter), but hearing Larry describe the making of his martinis I intend to try one ASAP!
Wisconsin Jon
As I learned in German class, “When the ‘e’ and the ‘i’ go walking, the last one does the talking!” (in its long English form, as stated).
Ike Veneable
Seems like a great location, I would definitely recommend it to anybody with a hankering for excitement!