Classic Martini
A simple cocktail with huge misunderstandings.
"A medium vodka Dry Martini - with a slice of lemon peel - and shaken, not stirred." - Ian Fleming
Well, James Bond got it wrong. Never vodka. Ever. A martini without gin is like a margarita without tequila. When you make a margarita with something other than tequila, you call it something other than a margarita. Take rum, for instance; use rum instead of tequila and you don't call it a margarita; you call it a daiquiri. If you use vodka in a martini, then at best, you have to call it a "Vodka Martini," which to his credit, at least Ian Fleming did. But personally, I dislike that moniker. No cocktail should not have to be qualified with what it is made of because that automatically implies it should have been made with something else, like the original recipe.
"I'm not talking a cup of cheap gin splashed over an ice cube. I'm talking satin, fire and ice; Fred Astaire in a glass; surgical cleanliness, insight, comfort, redemption and absolution. I'm talking Martini." - Tommy Tighe, an American bartender and writer
A martini is made with gin. You don't have to ask for a "Gin Martini" anymore than you have to ask for a "Tequila Margarita;" it’s a given. Even worse, the word “martini” has now become commoditized; you’ll see it on drink menus everywhere: chocolate martini, lemon drop martini, apple martini, raspberry martini, etc. The most you can say about any of these cocktails it that they’re served in a martini glass, but that does not make them a martini.
"Happiness is finding two olives in your Martini when you're hungry." - Johnny Carson
A martini also is garnished with an olive. It’s traditional. At least bartenders have had the good sense to change the name of this cocktail when you put something other than an olive in a martini. A cocktail onion, for example; when you put a cocktail onion in a martini and you no longer call it a martini; you call it a Gibson. Cary Grant, in the role of Roger Thornhill, actually made this version of a martini popular by ordering a Gibson while sitting across Eve Kendall, played by Eva Marie Saint on the train from New York to Chicago in the movie, North by Northwest.
"Do not allow children to mix drinks. It is unseemly and they use too much Vermouth." - Steve Allen
A martini has three, and only three ingredients. Gin. Vermouth. Olives. That’s it.
Over the years, the popular definition of a martini has had a few qualifying terms, for example, a "Perfect Martini." That is a martini made with equal parts of gin and vermouth. It was popular during Prohibition because gin in those days might well have come from someone’s bathtub.
The "Dry Martini," which became popular in the post war ‘50s, is another example, which is made with a splash of vermouth and probably comes to a ratio of somewhere around 15:1 parts of gin to vermouth. This is a matter of taste but in fact, it was the way Ernest Hemingway preferred his Martini. He actually called it a “Montgomery” after British Field Commander Bernard Montgomery, who insisted on an offensive only on the condition that his task force outnumbered the enemy fifteen to one.
Some people even leave vermouth out of the recipe altogether, which really is just a "Chilled Gin, Straight Up." True Martini aficionados say, “No.” If you're going to make a martini, you cannot eliminate the value that vermouth brings to the party. Vermouth adds to the complexity of the cocktail and softens the botanical astringency of the gin. You cannot have a martini without it. Personally, I use a perfume atomizer. Just 1-2 short sprays in the glass after it has been properly chilled, but before any gin is added. That’s all you need. But need it, you do.
Gin; Vermouth; Olives: the beverage equivalent of the Holy Trinity; the consecrated triad; the sanctified trio; a major chord and the final melodious, harmonious notes to redemption and absolution.
"I am prepared to believe that a Dry Martini slightly impairs the palate, but think what it does for the soul!" -Alec Waugh
Now that we have the formula of this cocktail firmly and indelibly set forth, let's turn our attention to all the hyperbole over "shaken, not stirred." You know what? It doesn't make any difference. Both methods are designed to chill the drink. Warm gin is not a palatable libation. Gin is meant to be chilled, and chilled well. Gin enthusiasts say you have to stir, not shake the drink because shaking "bruises the gin," which means that it turns the gin cloudy. While that is actually true, the effect is short lived.
Stirring the drink will dilute it more than if shaken. Shaking the drink, on the other hand, will chill it faster than if stirred. So, take your pick depending on how thirsty you are or how much of a hurry you are in.
Who can argue with the sophistication of stirring a martini in a properly chilled martini pitcher, replete with a glass stirrer. Talk about Fred Astaire in a glass!
On the other hand, there is a certain panache in capping, shaking and pouring a martini from a gleaming, frosty cocktail shaker. And shaking provides one more advantage to stirring: “the raft.” That is the term to describe the small shards of ice that collect in the center and float on the surface of the beverage. It provides one added dimension of euphoria and rapture to that very first sip.
But, either way, shaking or stirring doesn’t really matter as long as the Martini is well chilled and strained into properly chilled stemware.
"Whose leg to you have to hump to get a Dry Martini around here?" - Brian the Dog, of Family Guy
The physical properties of this mixture, The Martini, are as important as ensuring that it has been both expertly crafted and artistically presented. The stemware, the napkin and the skewer for the olives are an integral part of the experience. They all must have some artistic collaboration or at least, a little forethought about its presentation with at least as much care as a chef arranges food on a plate before serving.
Few things in life can be as lauded and exalted as the Perfect Martini Experience, capable of removing the mantle of a mundane existence, the shroud of sorrowful event, or the veil of a vile day.
"Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a Dry Martini?" - Robert Benchley
The metaphysical properties of this aperitif are perhaps even more elusive. Much has been written about the martini and few beverages have enjoyed the notoriety, if not the infamy of this truly American cocktail. The very essence of the drink suggests the power, self-confidence, poise, and assurance of a bon-vivant, someone who has that certain je ne sais quoi, possessing the ultimate savoir-faire.
"When I have one Martini, I feel bigger, wiser, taller. When I have the second, I feel superlative. When I have more, there's no holding me." - William Faulkner
"One Martini is alright. Two are too many. And three are not enough." - James Thurber
But be en guarde! The martini is not a beverage to be underestimated, taken lightly or trivialized in its power and authority. Margaritas can be trivialized. Cosmopolitans can be trivialized. And when you shoot tequila, you know what to expect and how soon to expect it. But a martini can be crafty indeed; devious and sly. It can sneak up on you. It can insidiously come from behind and like Maxwell's Silver Hammer, bring a bang on your sensibilities, leaving you open, vulnerable and defenseless. That is perhaps why the very act of consuming this libation is an act of control, influence and authority over such strength and potency.
"I never go jogging. It's makes me spill my Martini." - George Burns
The Martini is the Eau de Vie, the Water of Life. Not because it is a really great cocktail. But because we all have need to and must find the ability to transform reality on occasion to something higher, something lauded and extolled. Some do this with art, music, nature or skydiving. A martini allows you to experience all of those pursuits without every leaving your bar stool.
Classic Martini
Ingredients
- 1 stemmed martini glass or champagne coupe
- 4 oz London dry gin (like, Bombay Sapphire)
- 1/16 tsp dry vermouth (like, Dolin)
- 2-3 large pimento stuffed olives (like, Mazzetta Super Colossal Spanish Queen Pimento Stuffed)
- hard ice
Instructions
- Add hard ice to the martini glass or champagne coupe, and fill with cold water. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.
- Add hard ice to a cocktail shaker to within an inch of the top. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.
- While the glass and cocktail shaker are chilling, skewer a cocktail skewer withthe olives and have it at the ready.
- Pour the water and ice out of the martini glass or champagne coup, and using a perfume atomizer, spray 1-2 sprays of vermouth into the bottom of the glass.
- If you do not have a perfume atomizer, pour a 1/16 teaspoon of vermouth into the bottom of the glass, swirl it around the sides of the glass, and then discard any remaining liquid.
- Pour out any melted ice water from the cocktail shaker, and add additional hard ice if necessary. Measure 4 ounces of gin into the shaker, then cap it.
- Shake the cocktail shaker vigorously 29 times.
- Remove the cocktail shaker's cap and strain the chilled gin directly into the martini glass or champagne coupe.
- Rest the skewer with the olives on the rim of the glass.
- Serve immediately on a cocktail napkin.
Notes
- Shaking the cocktail vigorously 29 times ensures that slivers of ice will float to the top. When strained into the martini glass or champagne coupe, the slivers of ice on the top of the drink are said to be "the raft."
- A blue cheese stuffed olive is an acceptable alternative to one that is pimento stuffed but only if the blue cheese has been stuffed into the pitted olive by hand. Never buy jarred pre-stuffed blue cheese olives. They're horrible. If blue cheese is stuffed into a black olive and garnishing a Bombay Sapphire martini, that is called a "Black & Blue."
- Two other acceptable variations to a pimento or blue cheese stuffed olive are (1) a cocktail onion (like, Mazzetta Imported Cocktail Onions). This, then, turns the Martini into a Gibson. (2) A small, pickled, green tomato, called a "tomolive" (like, Old South Tomolives). This then is called a Martini, Cajun Style.
