My own martini

I have a friend that hosts an annual Christmas party and he tries to give his take on cocktail/martinis that he's had at various restaurants.

A few years ago he was trying to come up with something that was gin-based because he really likes gin. We had several weekends where he tried with bad results to come up with something.

Anyway, one night I was over and while he was attending to dinner I decided to throw some things together and see what happened. The results of that mixing was dubbed Gingle Bells (get it, GINgle bells) and it was the hit of his party.

I subsequently entered a contest and won so that my drink was featured on their menu and they changed the name to Herb-in Martini.

The idea of this drink is that it didn't have a lot of alcohol in it so you could have a couple without getting hammered.


Martini Madness Contest Winner's Recipes
1st Prize Winner:
The Herb-in-Tini from Bob Barton

1 shot of Bombay Sapphire Gin
1/2 shot of Rose’s Lime juice
1/2 shot of Elderflower cordial
1/4 shot of fresh lime juice
3 drops bitters
Fresh basil sprig
Fresh mint sprig

Put all ingredients in shaker and shake gently. Top off glass with cranberry seltzer water.

No offense meant, but that isn't a Martini.

It's a cocktail of some kind, made with gin.

However, for those who don't like actual Martini's, it seems a little more user-friendly. Congrats on getting your drink on the menu!

PozzSka said:

No offense meant, but that isn't a Martini.

It's a cocktail of some kind, made with gin.

However, for those who don't like actual Martini's, it seems a little more user-friendly. Congrats on getting your drink on the menu!

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Haven't you seen the restaurant drink menus lately? If you can serve it in a Martini glass, it's a Martini! Congrats to the OP for the win, it definately sounds interesting.

PozzSka said:

No offense meant, but that isn't a Martini.

It's a cocktail of some kind, made with gin.

However, for those who don't like actual Martini's, it seems a little more user-friendly. Congrats on getting your drink on the menu!

Click to expand...

jmallen5 said:

Haven't you seen the restaurant drink menus lately? If you can serve it in a Martini glass, it's a Martini! Congrats to the OP for the win, it definately sounds interesting.

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Thanks! True, not a traditional martini but considered one by most bars and restaurants these days.

Thats more like a Gimlet with added ingredients... definitely not a Martini.

Without even approaching the erosion of traditionality or bastardization of language, the popular trend of calling anything in a martini glass a martini is immediately problematic.

If I fill one with beer, is that a martini? What about urine? If I pour gin and vermouth into a beer glass, it's not a beer, nor is it an old fashioned if I pour it into an old fashioned glass. Its still a martini, because its main point of distinction is the inclusion of the liqueur made famous by Martini & Rossi.

A martini is gin with vermouth and garnish (optional), and should be served in the traditional glass but doesn't necessarily need to be.

So no, not a martini... it does sound tasty though. Congrats.

Congratulations on your winning cocktail.

jmallen5 said:

Haven't you seen the restaurant drink menus lately? If you can serve it in a Martini glass, it's a Martini!

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I was on vacation last fall and a woman went to the bar and ordered a "Gray Goose martini with no vermouth"

My own martini, with the emphasis on my own, received the moniker via entry in a contest and inclusion on a restaurant's drink menu. There would be no need, really, to call something my own martini if I was simply listing the ingredients of a traditional martini.

WordIQ definition

Sometimes the term "martini" is used to refer to other mostly-hard-liquor cocktails such as Manhattans, Cosmopolitans, and ad-hoc or local conconctions whose only commonality with the drink is the cocktail glass in which they are served. Chefs with a more whimsical bent are even producing dessert "martinis" which are not a drink at all, but are merely served in martini glasses.

It is tasty and geared more toward the person that doesn't want to get hammered if they have a couple and/or doesn't want to be overwhelmed with the presence of too much alcohol in the mix.

A Martini is a Martini though, if you change the ingredients its no longer a martini. Its a gin based cocktail served in a cocktail glass. That definition is ridiculous. A cosmopolitan is actually closer to a sour than a martini, and a manhattan is a manhattan...nothing to do with a matini.

Not trying to be awkward but this seems too come up alot on a drinking forum I view often (where calling anything but a Martini a Martini gets you blasted, even the term Vodka Martini gets a lot of people going).

Sounds like a damn fine drink, you should give it a proper name of its own.

WhiskeyBeat said:

A Martini is a Martini though, if you change the ingredients its no longer a martini. Its a gin based cocktail served in a cocktail glass. That definition is ridiculous. A cosmopolitan is actually closer to a sour than a martini, and a manhattan is a manhattan...nothing to do with a matini.

Not trying to be awkward but this seems too come up alot on a drinking forum I view often (where calling anything but a Martini a Martini gets you blasted, even the term Vodka Martini gets a lot of people going).

Sounds like a damn fine drink, you should give it a proper name of its own.

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It's not like I called the Fusion a safety razor.

Hahaha, I think I've been spending too long at Modern Drunkard...I'm far too obsessive about cocktails.

PozzSka said:

No offense meant, but that isn't a Martini.

It's a cocktail of some kind, made with gin.

However, for those who don't like actual Martini's, it seems a little more user-friendly. Congrats on getting your drink on the menu!

Click to expand...

+1

Looks like a perfectly fine drink, but these concoctions need their own names.

It's like making a cocktail with rum and Campari, and calling it a Manhattan.

It's not a Manhattan.

Martinis are made with Gin and dry Vermouth.

ETA: Love to see the purists here. We still have an uphill battle to reclaim the venerable "Martini" name. But it's a battle that must be fought. I really resent going into a bar and having to specify "gin Martini".

I think the only thing worse than these bastardized drinks bearing the name "Martini" is some guy waving his arms around going "THAT'S NOT A PROPER MARTINI!!!"

Change your recipe by adding two drops of Vermouth and you'll be fine calling it a Martini. It isn't the glass from whence the drink gets its name.

Sorry to break the bad news to the stoic Martini lovers, but the Martini went through several iterations on its way to the current "traditional" recipe.

Do a quick search of "The origin of the Martini" and no matter which story you choose to believe, the recipe for a Martini at the start of the story isn't what many are claiming it to be here.

Definitions and practical standards change. You don't have to like it, but it is fact.

Count me in the "don't dare call it a martini" camp.

I certainly understand that recipes and standards change, but the current definition of a proper martini has endured from prohibition to (nearly) present-day. It's a gin-soaked way of channeling Churchill, Bogart, and F. Scott. And whatever it's base, never in it's history until present day has "martini" referred to a family of drinks like sours, spritzers, rickeys, fizzes, etc.

Still though, I guess when it all boils down, I object to "vodka martinis" and "___-tinis" mostly because it's become the default modern definition for anything strained and served "up." And the overwhelming majority of these drinks bear no resemblance to a classic martini -- rarely are they gin-based, and rarely do they contain vermouth. More commonly they contain sweet and/or citrusy mixers. The martini is not a sweet drink. It's high-strength and you're supposed to be able to taste the gin.

In other words, the name stuck because of the glassware, not because these cocktails true cousins of the martini.

I'd have much less objection if these drinks were true evolutions of the martini, as the current martini is thought by some to be an evolution of the apocryphal "Martinez."

So while I appreciate that the drink being described here is clearly inspired by a proper martini (but may more closely taste like a gimlet), I think the gin is masked too much to properly apply the name. I'm not nearly as much in objection to this drink as I am "apple-tini" (etc) though. I hesitated to chime in at first, but since the issue was brought up, those are my feelings.

clubman said:

I think the only thing worse than these bastardized drinks bearing the name "Martini" is some guy waving his arms around going "THAT'S NOT A PROPER MARTINI!!!"

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what he said

clubman said:

I think the only thing worse than these bastardized drinks bearing the name "Martini" is some guy waving his arms around going "THAT'S NOT A PROPER MARTINI!!!"

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You must be the quintessential "swing voter". Although it sounds powerful, your statement essentially takes no stance, Your statement criticizes people who take one position, yet (maybe) supports the other position. Seems to be an easy way out. It's like saying "can't we all get along", which is just another way of saying "let's not talk about this issue, since I don't want to voice an opinion".

Well to some, the question "are these drinks Martinis?" is important. If you have no strong feeling about the question as it's posed, it's OK to just say so.

luvmysuper said:

Change your recipe by adding two drops of Vermouth and you'll be fine calling it a Martini. It isn't the glass from whence the drink gets its name.

Sorry to break the bad news to the stoic Martini lovers, but the Martini went through several iterations on its way to the current "traditional" recipe.

Do a quick search of "The origin of the Martini" and no matter which story you choose to believe, the recipe for a Martini at the start of the story isn't what many are claiming it to be here.

Definitions and practical standards change. You don't have to like it, but it is fact.

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You could skip the two drops of Vermouth if you can make sure the bartenders actually glance at the Vermouth bottle at the proper time in the mixing.

DavyRay said:

You could skip the two drops of Vermouth if you can make sure the bartenders actually glance at the Vermouth bottle at the proper time in the mixing.

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Just ask the bartender to think of Italy while he's pouring the gin.

WhiskeyBeat said:

A Martini is a Martini though, if you change the ingredients its no longer a martini. Its a gin based cocktail served in a cocktail glass. That definition is ridiculous. A cosmopolitan is actually closer to a sour than a martini, and a manhattan is a manhattan...nothing to do with a matini.

Not trying to be awkward but this seems too come up alot on a drinking forum I view often (where calling anything but a Martini a Martini gets you blasted, even the term Vodka Martini gets a lot of people going).

Sounds like a damn fine drink, you should give it a proper name of its own.

Click to expand...

To be fair, the OP originally dubbed it "Gingle Bells", the bar in which he won the contest changed it to "Herb-in Martini". Since the bar called it a Martini, I have no problem with the OP referring to it as one. I know what a real Martini is, it never has bothered me that other people call other drinks as such. I get all of the tradition and such, but really, I don't see the big deal. If someone were to think my dachshund is a greyhound, it won't make his legs any longer, no matter how many times they say it.