Martini
by CAMPER ENGLISH / photograph by NIGEL COX / illustrations by ROSS MACDONALD
“It is certainly more of a broad concept than a specific recipe,” writes Jason Wilson of the martini in Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits, “but the one constant must be gin and vermouth.”
Rather than one drink, the martini is now a set of variables and constants. Is it a vehicle for a preparation ritual akin to a tea ceremony or a simple two-ingredient cocktail? A boozy wallop of liquor or an elegant fashion accessory? For Wilson, vodka and martini are mutually exclusive terms; for others, the ingredients are just a part of its “broad concept.”
At the international 42 Below Cocktail World Cup in New Zealand last March, judges asked bartenders to create a “modern martini”—a twist on the traditional drink, made with the sponsor vodka. The French team reinterpreted the process, stirring the ingredients separately before shaking them together. The Italians lowered the cocktail’s proof to modernize its nature as an aperitif, while the Americans focused on the garnish, stuffing the olive with orange flesh. The Kiwis challenged its iconic V-shaped glass by serving it as a fizzing powder and a shot.
The judges—who believed the libation’s essence is found in its simplicity—selected the winning martini of the Irish, who merely added a dash of bitters and a spritz of flavored vodka on top.
Variations are nothing new: The martini has always been a moving target. It morphed from the sweet Martinez in the late 1800s into the martini made with dry vermouth at the turn of the 20th century. It lost most of its vermouth going into the ’50s and, moving toward the ’70s, then became an all-vodka drink as that spirit overtook sales of gin.
At the turn of the millennium, a martini was any neon-colored sugary liquid served in a “martini glass” the size of a terrarium. And as if to defy the laws of physics, in the current classic-cocktail revival, all of these exist simultaneously—at least for bartenders challenged to make them for customers whose tastes lie in one era or another.
Today the martini is a specific drink to individuals but an abstract idea. As Wilson wrote, “It is both universal and highly personal.” He had moved on to defining the Manhattan by that point in the book, but he could have been writing about the martini...or fashion sense, religion or love.
MARTINEZ
1887
• 1 3/4 ounces London dry gin
• 2 ounces sweet vermouth
• 1/4 ounce Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• 1 dash orange bitters
Combine ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice cubes and stir. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon twist.
DRY MARTINI
1910
• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce French dry vermouth
• 1 dash orange bitters
Stir ingredients over ice and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon twist.
GIN MARTINI
1955
• 3 ounces gin
• 1 splash French dry vermouth
Rinse martini glass with vermouth, then pour out. In mixing glass, stir gin and ice and strain into martini glass. Garnish with olive.
VODKATINI
1990
• 4 ounces vodka
• 1 splash French dry vermouth
Pour vermouth into ice-filled shaker. Swirl, add vodka and shake. Pour into 8-ounce martini glass. Garnish with several olives.
APPLETINI
2000
• 4 ounces vodka
• 2 ounces sour-apple schnapps
• 2 ounces apple juice
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into 10- or 12-ounce martini glass. Garnish with slice of green apple.
Categories: By the Glass / Cocktails / Drinks / Entertaining
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Yikes. That appletini recipe easily produces two cocktails worth of liquid. Six ounces just of the alcohol-based ingredients? That's a heckuva a lot for one drink, especially if the drinker is a 120-lb woman.
My martini: 3 oz gin, 1 oz dry vermouth, heavy dash of Fee Bros grapefruit bitters. Stirred and strained over olives. Delicious!
Posted by: Christopher Buecheler | 01/03/2011 at 12:18 PM
The last time I was in a cocktail bar, most of the women were well over 120lb!
My martini: 3oz gin, 1oz vodka, 1/2oz dry vermouth
Posted by: richard | 01/16/2011 at 12:46 PM
That's a great martini photo.
tks
Posted by: PWB in DC | 05/27/2011 at 09:19 AM
Mine is 2 oz gin preferably tanqueray 10 , 1oz titos vodka with a splash of dry vermouth
put all ingerdients in a cocktail shaker with ice , put in freezer for 5 mins and strain into Martini glass
I find this to be THE smoothest Martini i have ever had
Posted by: Justin | 06/07/2011 at 12:06 PM
It's true about Martini's causing a weight gain.
When I want to lose weight,
I have to quit drinking them. But I love them! So I'm fat.
Here's my recipe:
Cocktail glass with 2 ice cubes
Pour:
2 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
1 oz Martini Rossi Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Olive juice
Squirt of Lime juice
Two garlic stuffed green olives
Splash of ice water
Stir gently and sip
Posted by: Angela | 06/25/2011 at 04:52 PM
My martini:
4 oz freezer-chilled Absolut Peppar
Dash dry vermouth
garnish with 4-5 large olives hand-stuffed with bleu cheese
Posted by: bluestatedon | 06/26/2011 at 06:38 AM
Give those foofy drinks another name. There is ONLY ONE Martini: it's made with gin and dry vermouth.
Posted by: John Shannock | 07/20/2011 at 12:21 AM
My favorite is still two ounces gin, one ounce dry vermouth, and a bit of orange bitters!!! Stirred Please!
Posted by: Tony | 08/02/2011 at 12:40 PM
That c.2000 appletini is fantastic, thanks for the larf.
Posted by: Rogers | 11/20/2011 at 02:50 AM
4 parts gin to 1 part dry vermooth, add a splash of olive juice, serve in a tumbler over ice with an olive.
Posted by: p | 01/11/2012 at 05:35 PM
Fancy a martini? Check out the http://www.great-martini-recipes.info/vodka/ first!
Posted by: Martini Recipes | 04/17/2012 at 06:50 AM