James Bond definitely had it right on the money. A vodka martini, "shaken not stirred" in a cocktail shaker with ice until abosolutely frigid and strained in a chilled martini glass with a lemon twist. I could use one of those right now. As far as vodka brands go, Grey Goose is my favorite, easily the smoothest of all vodkas I have had the pleasure of sampling. The most discriminating palates will notice the slightly sweet hint of pear in the aftertaste. I will of course settle for other premium vodkas when Grey Goose is not available such as Stoli, Absolut, Ketel One and Belevedere to name a few. Skyy is probably the least expensive vodka I would purchase for my own consumption.

I have been known to whore myself to lesser brands of vodka in a pinch. Typically any vodka coming out of a plactic bottle will taste something akin to kerosene. These vodkas are best mixed with fruit juices, basically anything to kill the "paint thinner" aftertaste. Smirnoff is probably the smoothest of the plastic bottle varieties, often seen behind open bars at weddings, it's probably the only plastic bottled vodka I'd drink without mixing, definitely on the rocks though.

Some may argue that the Gin Martini is the "genuine article" as far as martinis go. It does have the disctinction of being the main ingredient of first martinis ever made. Since I certainly can't argue with history, if anyone with a discriminating enough palate brings that argument up to me, I'll be happy to discuss it over a very dry Bombay Sapphire gin martini with 3 olives, shaken of course. Thus far I have had this discussion only once, with a gentelman who looked to be in his early 60's. It was an interesting discussion though and it opened up my appreciation for the old school way of drinking martinis.

The martini somehow carries with it an air of class and disticntion. It's a rarity to see females of my generation drinking a real martini though. With the emergence of shows like Sex in the City, martini-glass drinks like the Cosmopolitan have taken an upswing making any female holding a Y-shaped glass sexy by association, at least to me. Still, I have yet to meet the quintessensial female straight-up martini drinker that is not my mom's age. =p

I don't know what it is exactly about a martini, but to me it's one of the sexiest drinks to ever touch my hand, bless my lips and wet my throat. When imbibed I am somehow freed of my strongest inhibitions. Suddenly, I can make women melt with my gaze, the words that have been held back like water behind a dam flow out much more freely, like the gradual releasing of floodgates. My hands and my body become facilitators of my chemistry, I touch and hold more often and the boundaries of my personal space become weakened and dissolved. I somtimes wish that feeling within me could last forever, that I could be the man that I am when I am inebreated. Until something like that happens, how can I not love the way that elixir endows its spirit onto my being? It has and always will be my "liquid mojo"...