Post #193441 by Johnny Dollar on Tue, Oct 18, 2005 6:24 PM

lil story for ya.

the year was about 1984, i was about 13. i loved all the cocktail stuff in my parents' basement, which by that point was never used. i was particularly fascinated by the "mixing guide" slide rule, and had a random concept of what a jigger was.

one afternoon i decided i would use said discarded ephemera to concoct a drink ~ and for some reason, a clouded part of my brain told me that a "martini" was the apprpriate drink to make. i was pretty good about following the majority of the directions included on the mixing guide...

i found some gibley's gin and some martini & rossi in the liquor cabinet, and an old fashioned glass that had probably not been used for 15 years. i was fairly precise in measuring out the ingredients, excepting the olive, lemon, and orange bitters. of course, the instruction i ignored was "USE FINE ICE IN ALL DRINKS" :)

needless to say, when i tasted said concoction i was appropriately nauseated. i did not try to mix a martini again until 1996, after being inspired by the movie swingers and realizing that ice was an integral ingredient. and good gin. and good vermouth :)