If anyone needs me, I'll be reading. Please don't need me.

If anyone needs me, I'll be reading. Please don't need me.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Cheap beer isn't your only choice when your pockets are light

Have only $8.25 in your pocket until tomorrow's payday but still could go for a nice martini on your way home from work? There's no need to go for your usual Belvedere or Grey Goose martini, smooth and yummy as they are. Ask for a basic Absolut or even Smirnoff martini, as these are economical and perfectly drinkable vodkas (if not the very smoothest), but when you order your martini, order it dirty. The addition of olive juice to your cocktail will handily cover any shortcomings in the vodka (much like the way Bloody Mary mix does for a Bloody Mary), resulting in a perfectly good martini experience on the cheap. Just don't go too cheap. In other words, go for the Banker's Club or Jacquins at your own risk.

2 comments:

  1. Joe, great site, well done. But, I've got to disagree (it won't surprise you) with one thing: a martini is made with gin, not vodka! These are great suggestions for a vodkatini, and I like the "dirty martini" idea, and the lower priced bottle idea. For a high-value, lower cost gin, try Plymouth. The NYT ranked it the #1 gin for a martini. And try Noli Pratt vermouth, which will give you a whole new appreciation of vermouth.

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  2. Thanks for checking in, Bier. I'm in total agreement that the classic martini is indeed a gin martini, and I think Plymouth gin is terrific (its clean, crisp taste is a nice alternative to the more fragrant Bombay Sapphire, my usual choice when I'm going the gin route). Though I never thought of Plymouth as a lower-priced gin... maybe some of the haunts I visit are charging too much. In any event, when going the 'tini route, I go vodka about 70% of the time and gin about 30%. After all, gin makes you sin, as they say.

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