I have been interested in mixing cocktails for about a year now and have a trusty bar guide that provides recipes and good advice on drink preparation.  One interesting thing I learned in the book was that the original martini had equal parts gin and vermouth.  Over the years the, martinis became more and more dry and vermouth was demonized as a necessary burden and the martini became little more than chilled gin or vodka.  I was at a bar a few months ago and an old regular claimed that vermouth on the rocks was a pleasant drink and nobody believed him.

So when I was in France recently a friend of mine raved about the French martini cocktails that she had had. I was eager to try it out as I’ve never tasted any beverage that the French didn’t do perfectly.  She ordered one and got a glass of clear liquid with ice cubes and a lemon peal.  I had my sip and immediately recognized a familiar herb taste.  This was certainly our old friend Vermouth.  When I suggested that it was vermouth my friend had trouble believing that a drink that we have all been trained to sneer at and think was disgusting could be so delicious by itself on the rocks. But it was certainly vermouth (the drink was called martini because of the vermouth brand Martini & Rossi).

There was a good blog posting on the New York Times website about a writer talking about how important drink choices are for building characters in fiction.  Her personal favorite drink is the strawberry daiquiri but she feels too old to drink it seriously and she finds herself forced in to drinking “more serious” drinks that befit her age.  She asks readers what their signature cocktails are and what that says about us.  I think mine used to be a Presbyterian which is whiskey with equal parts soda and ginger, but now I think it might be vermouth on the rocks.  I like how it tastes – especially in the summer it will be quite refreshing – but it also unique and shows that I don’t follow the conventional wisdom about a delicious but maligned drink.  It’s unsophisticated (ordering a dry martini is ultra-sophisticated right?) and classy at the same time.  I love it.

update:
The best martini?  the Knickerbocker.
2 part gin
1 part dry vermouth
1/2 part sweet vermouth