Words Of Wisdom from your friendly neighborhood bartender, By Andre Graves

             JUST THE TIP         

Words of wisdom from your friendly neighborhood bartender 

Drink like a pro: The Martini

Hey. Are you tired of ordering the same ol’ thing every time you’re at the bar? Gin and juice perhaps? Or maybe a vodka and cranberry?  Or maybe you like the brown stuff and go for a Henny and coke. Well if you’re a lot of folks, those are about the only cocktails you really know. I mean sure you’ve heard of a margarita, a martini, and even a Manhattan. But do you know what’s in them? How they are prepared? And most importantly, how they should taste?  If not, then as The Queen Bey herself would say; “let me upgrade you.”

I could go on for hours about cocktails, recipes, and
even glassware.  Yeah I said it. I like to talk about cups. Sue me. But I’m not going to bore you with page after page of all that right now. Let’s just start with a something simple so the next time you’re at a networking event or sitting down for a five-star meal you don’t sound like Homey the Clown when it’s time to make a drink order. Cool? 

This drink is a classic right here. You’ve seen it on countless TV shows and movies and you probably even know that 007 likes his “shaken not stirred.”  Which for the record, ordering like that will get you laughed out of every bar I’ve ever been in. I won’t bore you with the history of this drink because that could take forever. So I’ll just skip to what you need to know. 

For starters this is a “boozy “cocktail. Which is just a fancy way of letting you know there’s a lot of alcohol and you shouldn’t toss these back too quickly. Unless of course you feel like falling asleep or worse, calling your ex to ask him/her why it never worked out. (For the 100^th time). 

What’s in it? 

• Base spirit (vodka or gin)
• Vermouth (dry)
• Garnish (lemon, lime, olive, cocktail onion)

How to order:

The first part is pretty easy. You just need to know whether you prefer vodka or gin AND which brand*. That is key to a good cocktail. Next you need to decide just how boozy you would like your drink. The vermouth is there to provide balance and take a little of the bite away from the spirit. If you want less vermouth say “dry (splash), extra dry (spritz) or extra extra dry (none)”.  

Next you’ll need a garnish. A twist of lemon or lime, which just means the peel of either twisted over your drink, is pretty straightforward. Olives can add a little more complexity to the drink. So if you DON’T like olives I’d skip that option. But if you LOVE olives then ask for you drink to be made “dirty”. Which is a splash of olive juice
added to your drink. And sometimes if you’re lucky it means an extra olive or 2. If you’re feeling EXTRA fancy you can go with a Gibson Martini. That just means they put a tiny onion in your glass as a garnish. Lastly this thing needs to go in a glass. You’ve got 2 options. “On the rocks”, in a rocks galls or “up” in a glass with a stem. Get all that? 

This can get a little tricky because there are so many combinations. It may even take you a little practice but that’s ok because odds are you’ll need to try a few to know just how you like it. (Please do so on a full stomach!) If your bartender is worth his shaker he should be able to guide you through this process pretty painlessly. The fewer questions he has to ask, the cooler you will look. Ok I can’t guarantee that last part, but at least I’ll think you’re pretty cool. 

Hopefully you found this helpful so the next time you’re out instead of saying “y’all got Henny” you can say something like “I’ll have a dirty Grey Goose martini, up please.” 

Cheers, and remember to tip (well)!

André Graves is a former bartender and current member of the United States Bartenders Guild residing in downtown Los Angeles. He owns way too many Batman shirts for a grown-ass man and loves to talk about bourbon on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.