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May 5, 2023·edited May 5, 2023

On cocktails as a whole I cannot recommend more strongly (see what I did there?) Mr Embury's finest work. Fantastic read for history, ingredients, craft.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fine_Art_of_Mixing_Drinks

Predates some of the great 21st inventions of course, such as the Penicillin, but it shows all the greats are the base-flavour-enhance structures

https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2539/penicillin-cocktail

WARNING: Diffords comes with a high grade Procrastination alert. I mean, TV Tropes level.

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i only recently got interested in the cocktail thing maybe a year or three before covid? Before that it was maybe trying one out every now and again but i was focusing on making my own beer and ginger ale and cider etc. Martinis are still in the "holy crap do you run a car on this stuff?" category but maybe i just havent had a good one yet. Unfortunately i have just jumped on the wagon for a good month or more so the testing phase will have to wait. Suggestions welcome of course :) As olives are pretty salty would some good old fashioned australian saltbush be a good substitute? Give that australian flare?

I did do a sort of pub crawl in the sydney CBD with a mate whilst the wimmen went and watched Dave Gray. The theme was "underground bars" and one of them was The Lobo. They made some good drinks. It was a bit disconcerting navigating the stairs and having staff watch you come in, give you an enthusiastic "hello friend!" right to your eyeball so you couldnt escape, but it was a fun venue despite the weird staff salutations.

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Try Double Deuce, Ramblin Rascals, Burrow Bar and the forerunner Baxter's Inn. All these places run a host position that are there to meet and greet too

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I prefer onions to olives with a vodka martini. Only a serious bar stocks those cocktail ones.p

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“parmesan-infused dry vermouth”!!!

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May 2, 2023·edited May 2, 2023

Oh my! I'd always assumed anytime you mentioned a martini, it was a dirty one with olives. I had a moment of perfection this evening when I got home from work and just such a dirty martini was being assembled for my enjoyment.

(My wife describes them as a drink with a snack.)

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