> Why in the world do so many people want their Martini made
> with vodka rather than gin?
Why did Nixon and Reagan win in landslides?
As an aside, I feel like, as a society, we Americans have lost our sense of what's Good in the world. You know what I'm talking about: yes, vermouth.
I'm not talking about that burnt crap otherwise known as Martini & Rossi that tastes terrible even before you open the bottle, let alone months or years later, which is where you find it at a so-called friends' house, gathering dust. Not At All. Drink vermouth like it spoils, which it does, so that yours is always fresh.
No self-respecting Martini drinker should settle for anything less than Dolin from Chambéry, at the minimum. The minimum! ("A thing like that!") There are at least a half a dozen excellent white vermouths available out there: Carpano Bianco; Atxa from Spain (their red is very good, too); Contratto Bianco, from the Piemonte; even domestic Ransom from hipster Oregon makes a tasty dry vermouth. Sutton Cellars here in San Francisco is now making a delicious example. If you can't stomach a glass of the stuff alone, Do Not Put It Into Your Gin!
Try one with The Botanist (a new up-and-comer from of all places Islay) and Carpano Bianco (3:1, the golden ratio for cocktails, 'natch) and tell me you don't want a second one.
Oh, and people of the world: stop ordering your Martini "dry" like you think know what you're talking about. When ordered "dry" you are refering to the gin (the so-called "London Dry" style, as opposed to Old Tom, Genever, or Plymouth), not how much vermouth you imagine they'll put into it. Leave the proportions to your able bartender and drop the James Bond pretense.
Jesus, I'm thirsty.
/jordan