TheBanyanTree: My Martini Story...

[smack58 at nycap.rr.com]

My Martini Story

I learned to drink martini's by first eating the olives.  As a bartender in my early 20's, for every martini I made, I would make a little extra and soak the olives in a small glass under the bar for consumption throughout the night.  It often made me tipsy, but I never really thought about it until a pain in the ass waiter made me angry and I threw a drink at him.  I was promptly fired. Tipsy is not a good thing when an arrogant snot-nosed waiter gets on your last nerve on a busy night.

Slowly I made martinis my drink of choice...specifically Beefeater gin martinis.  No other gin would do and I ordered them straight up, shaken till they were well chilled with four olives on the side.  No "dirties" in my martini!  I drank that particular martini for years.

I had a gentleman friend who wanted me to try Bombay Sapphire gin in my martinis, but I was adamant.  I stuck with my Beefeaters until one day he sent a drink to my table (I was out with my "Martini Girls" at a table and he was at the bar).  It was so smooth, I couldn't believe the difference in the two gins.  I switched immediately and thanked him with my red face on.  Why hadn't I listened to him sooner?

One day while buying my (now) favorite gin and vermouth for my home supply in the local liquor store, the owner showed me a quart jar of what looked like green olives.  The weren't.  Written across the label was "Tomolives."  The were small green tomatoes pickled somewhat like green olives.  He actually gave me the jar (guess I was a good customer) and said to try them and let him know how I liked them.  I LOVED them! Sadly, he stopped ordering them but, no problem, I found the website and now order straight from the Internet.  Much cheaper, too.  Now when I go out to dinner and plan to order my Bombay Sapphire martini, I take a small Tupperware container of my tomolives with me.

Then I found BRIX.  My, now, favorite restaurant.  The first time I went to BRIX the bartender and two of the waitresses were mixing a drink and tasting, changing and tasting until they thought it was good.  I noticed the jar of Hibiscus flowers on the bar.  When my waitress came to my table and asked me if I would like a cocktail, I said, "Yes.  I'd like whatever you all were making with the flower in it but first tell me the rest of what's in it."  

She proceeded to tell me it was new and an experiment by the bartender and then gave me the ingredients.  She said, "Berkshire Gin or Vodka, St. Germaine (a flower liquor) and the Hibiscus flower with a touch of the syrup in the bottom of the glass. Which would you prefer, the gin or the vodka."  I chose the gin, of course.

It is one of the best martinis I have ever tasted.  Of course, you can only get it at BRIX.  It is now their signature drink.  They also have a new drink that I just love, and that is a St. Germaine cocktail with St. Germaine (of course), a bit of club soda, topped with champagne and a lemon twist.  I often will switch to this, especially in summer as it is one of the most refreshing drinks I have ever tasted...like gin and tonic is refreshing.

I do order regular martinis there on occasion but have to have them made with the Berkshire Gin which is fine as, it too, is a wonderful product.  I told the manager about the tomolives and shared the email site with him so that he can order them at quite a discount. He was kind enough to order a 1/2 case to keep on hand for me.  Now I don't have to bring my own supply.

So, yes, this is my martini story, but in the end it is my favorite restaurant story as well.  I now visit BRIX at least once a week, sometime twice.  Not only can their bartender make the perfect drink, but their food is to die for...but that's another story for another day.




---- Julie Anna Teague <jateague at indiana.edu> wrote: 

> On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 11:38 AM, <smack58 at nycap.rr.com> wrote:
>
> If anyone wants the recipe, let me know and I'll post it.  It is my
> favorite and developed by the bartender at BRIX Wine Bar here in Pittsfield,
> MA.  It's the only place you can get one except at my home.  :)

Of all the things we share on this story group, a good drink recipe 
would be  perhaps the most helpful on occasion. ;)  But, wait, to make 
this a story since this is a story group, let me tell you about the one 
and only time I had a martini.  Make that *martinis*.  The good part of 
the story is that the husband talked me out of peeing on someone's lawn 
and drove me home, saving me from further humiliation and/or arrest.  
The bad part of the story is just all bad.  Very bad.  I haven't had 
one ever again, and stick, mostly safely, to red wine.  But I'm 
certainly curious about the hibiscus part.