Tom: These days, the *default* seems to be a vodka martini. A few years ago I naively ordered a martini in a bar (something I seldom do, as they are outrageously expensive), and the bartender asked me what flavor of vodka I wanted; I had to *tell* him to use gin! When I am making my own, I mostly favor, these days, the 19th-century style celebrated by Ogden Nash & H. L. Mencken, but occasionally, in sentimental remembrance of my undergraduate years, I move up to the 20th century (gin & a generous dollop of dry vermouth -- I make no pretense of sophistication). As for vodka, I have almost no use for it, but sometimes, when in the mood, I have a very small glass of very cold vodka with a dried cherry in it -- an invention of my mother's.