Post #162206 by thejab on Sun, May 29, 2005 12:30 PM

Quince and Kukoae have it right. Dilution is the key to a good martini! Frozen booze doesn't melt the ice enough.

Stirred is my preference because I don't like too many bits of ice floating in my martini, and a martini should look crystal clear, not cloudy.

I hate the uber-dry trend! I usually order mine "not too dry" if I don't know the bartender. But they often think I mean "not too much dry vermouth" when I say "not too dry"!

Along with passion fruit syrup I also keep my vermouth in the fridge because I heard that vermouth loses its quality when stored at room temperature for a long time. I also have a bottle of Lillet in there.

Does anyone know if other low-proof mixers (port, sherry, falernum, etc.) should be stored in the fridge? Velvet Falernum for example has lime juice in it, so I imagine it will go "bad" after a while, right? I stored a bottle of Sazarac Falernum in the fridge for a while, and a crystallized to the level where I couldn't use it, so I tossed it - what a waste!