The Educated Barfly · Modern Martini Variation · 2026

Humble Brag

A 2:1 gin Martini pointed toward grapefruit with a few dashes of bitters — dry, aromatic, and quietly confident. A modern Martini variation from Leandro DiMonriva of The Educated Barfly.

Humble Brag cocktail
Gin Dry Vermouth Grapefruit Bitters Martini

The Humble Brag is a Martini variation from Leandro DiMonriva — better known as The Educated Barfly — introduced in his 2026 summer lineup. The move is small and the name earns itself: take a classic 2:1 gin Martini and point it toward grapefruit with a few dashes of bitters. Nothing about the build looks clever, which is precisely the flex. It drinks dry, bright, and composed — a Martini that lets the grapefruit do the talking.

The quietest drink in the room is usually the most sure of itself.

Origin

Credit where it's due: the Humble Brag is Leandro DiMonriva's, introduced in the Summer Bangerz 2026 episode he published as The Educated Barfly. We're documenting his spec, not claiming it — a 2:1 gin Martini seasoned with grapefruit bitters and served in the Martini idiom: stirred, up, and very cold.

The name is the joke. On paper the build is almost aggressively plain — gin, dry vermouth, a few dashes of bitters — and that restraint is the entire personality. It brags by refusing to.

The Spec

Two parts gin to one part dry vermouth is a wetter pour than the bone-dry Martinis currently in fashion, and it's deliberate. The extra vermouth carries the grapefruit bitters and keeps the drink aromatic rather than austere; three to four dashes of grapefruit bitters is the seasoning that gives the drink its name.

The build, by volume
Gin2 oz · ~62% Dry vermouth1 oz · ~31% Grapefruit bitters3-4 dashes · ~8%

The 2:1, on purpose

A full ounce of dry vermouth against two of gin is closer to a mid-century Martini than a modern whisper-of-vermouth one. That's the point: the vermouth is a load-bearing ingredient here, softening the gin and giving the grapefruit bitters something to sit in. Use a fresh, well-kept dry vermouth — it is a third of the drink, not an afterthought.

Grapefruit bitters

The bitters are the whole idea in three or four dashes. They read as a faint bittersweet citrus lift rather than a flavor you could name blind, tilting a straight Martini toward grapefruit pith and zest. If you keep only one citrus bitters on the shelf, this is the drink that argues for grapefruit.

Stir, never shake

It's a Martini, so it's stirred — shaking would cloud it and bruise the texture. Stir with plenty of ice until properly cold and diluted, strain into a chilled glass, and finish with an expressed grapefruit twist to echo the bitters. Clarity and cold are the texture.

Bottom Line

The Humble Brag is a Martini that refuses to announce itself — three ordinary components arranged with enough restraint to feel like a choice. Make it for the person who orders a Martini and thinks they've seen them all.

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