No cocktail carries more mythology, or more opinion, than the Martini. At its core it is almost nothing — gin and dry vermouth, stirred with ice until painfully cold, strained into a stemmed glass. Everything else — the ratio, the garnish, gin against vodka, the chill of the glass — is a century of argument.
"I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be very large and very cold and very well-made."
— Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, 1953The Ratio Question
Early Martinis were nearly half vermouth. The twentieth century dried them out relentlessly, until "dry" came to mean almost no vermouth at all. A modern, balanced Martini runs anywhere from 2:1 to 5:1 gin to vermouth.
Drier is not better — it is just colder gin. Dry vermouth is a fresh, wine-based ingredient; keep the bottle in the refrigerator and use it generously enough to taste. It is what separates a Martini from a glass of neat spirit.
Stir, Don't Shake
Despite the most famous order in fiction, a Martini is stirred. Shaking aerates and over-dilutes a clear, spirit-forward drink, clouding it and bruising its silky texture. Stir with plenty of ice for a slow thirty seconds.
Garnish with a lemon twist for a bright, aromatic Martini, or with olives for a savoury, saline one. A few drops of olive brine makes it dirty; a tiny measure of both vermouths makes it perfect.
Variations
A measure of olive brine turns the Martini cloudy, saline, and savoury.
- 2 1/2 ozGin
- 1/2 ozDry vermouth
- 1/2 ozOlive brine
A Martini garnished with a pickled onion — faintly savoury, faintly vegetal.
- 2 1/2 ozGin
- 1/2 ozDry vermouth
- 1 dashOrange bitters
James Bond's Martini — gin and vodka together, with Lillet for the vermouth.
- 3 ozGin
- 1 ozVodka
- 1/2 ozLillet Blanc