I've been trying martinis for a couple of years now. I started with the traditional gin and vermouth martini, moved on to variations including the vodka martini and even tried a chocolate martini. So far, I'm really liking the olives and their effect on a martini, and while I very much like a gin and vermouth martini, lately I've enjoyed "dirty" martinis made with vodka and a splash of olive juice. I'm picky about the vodka, though I'm quite enjoying Koenig's Idaho potato vodka. But much as we like making martinis at home, there's a lot to be said for enjoying a perfect martini made by someone else, and served in a slightly dim bar, or possibly on a sunny lanai with a tropical view, or maybe a dim booth with some classic jazz or blues in the background . . .

I've had mixed luck finding a reliably good martini, one that's at least as good as the ones we make at home. We tried a local chain known for its martinis. One of their claims to fame is that they serve the martinis with the shaker on the side. We ordered a Ketel One classic martini, dirty. When it came (in a martini glass sans shaker) the condensation dripping off the glass suggested it had been sitting somewhere, waiting to be served. The absence of vodka and olive juice suggested that we had perhaps received either a martini that had been sitting somewhere, melting, before they poured and served it. It's not an experience we care to repeat.

But last week, in Seattle, at a SeaTac hotel (the Seaports Lounge at the Doubletree, of all places) we got lucky. Twice. Two Ketel One dirty martinis perfectly made, perfectly served. A generous amount of vodka, (two jiggers), shaken and served immediately after, so cold that there was an ice-film on the top of the martini. What's more, two separate bartenders on separate occasions managed this feat.

I'm not unsympathetic to the difficulties of serving a perfect martini under commercial conditions. To begin with, you must use enough vodka to create a martini that still says "martini" despite the inevitable ice melt, without being a glass of vodka. Too much vodka isn't much better than a watery mess. The successful martini requires that the maker measure, shake, olive and serve, as soon as possible. I suspect more martinis fail on the basis of sitting around, waiting and warming, than those that fail from because of an inadequate mix. I'll keep searching for a reliably excellent classic vodka martini—though I confess that once I find it, I'll start investigating the successful chocolate martini, and there's this intriguing concoction called a lemondrop . . .

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