Cy Coleman playing for Hugh Hefner and assorted Playmates in Hef’s Chicago penthouse? Nothing but a dry gin martini will do. And a smoking jacket, if you’ve got one.
You’ll need:
4.5 ounces Bombay Sapphire Gin
1/4 teaspoon dry vermouth
Two handfuls of ice
A large cocktail shaker
A nice big chunk of lemon zest
An easier way to measure the vermouth is to just pour a little into the vermouth cap. However you do it, pour it into the martini glass, give it a swirl, then gently flick out into the sink whatever doesn’t stick. Take your lemon zest and rub it lightly around the rim of the glass, inside and out. Give it a gentle twist right inside the glass, then deposit it there.
Put the ice in the shaker, then pour in the gin. Now just shake the bejeebus out of that thing for 30 seconds. I mean, hard. Like it’s an Olympic event. I don’t mean for you to bruise the gin — I want you to send it to the hospital. We’re making martinis the Chicago way.
When you pour it into the glass, your martini should be almost milky white, with ice crystals floating in it. Now take that first sip — quickly! — before the effect goes away. It won’t last long, I promise. Ideally, neither will your martini.
Here’s the one I just made.
Cheers.
4.5 oz gin to .25tsp vermouth? The dry martini is the biggest hoax ever perpetuated upon a suffering public. Martinis should be 4 parts gin to 1 part vermouth, the same ratio as any other serious cocktail.
To your credit, at least you put in gin, not the diluted pure alcohol drink of impoverished Russian peasants, vodka.
Undoubtedly, you should start your own cocktail blog.
Nah. The above is everything I know about cocktails–and pretty much everything else, come to think of it, but it’s stood me well.
Vermouth does not mix well with Vodka. it does mix well with Gin. 4 to 1 is not a bad starting point. Gin should be stirred not shaken. Shaking bruises the Gin and changes the flavor. it also releases anti-toxens so shake if you need help in the immune department. Olive on the side if at all. A twist of lemon peel, first twisted over the glass to release the lemon oil and then rubed around the rim of the chilled glass. Only the vermouth should be chilled as the room temperature Gin needs to pick up a little water. There is no such thing as a Vodka Martini. All they want is Vodka on the rocks with an olive and maybe a little olive brine.
“Vermouth does not mix well with Vodka. it does mix well with Gin.”
I’ve found this depends upon the gin in question, as flavorings vary. If the bartener asks, I’ll say Beefeaters. As long as it isn’t Tanqueray; in my experience it goes pleasantly well with tonic and citrus but horribly wrong with vermouth and brined olives. (Maybe I’d feel differenly about the Tanqueray if it weren’t for the olives.)
As for the ammount of vermouth, I tend toward “extra dry.” It doesn’t take much vermouth to overtake the subtleties of a good gin. (My favorite bartender does this Winston Churchill thing; she waves an upright bottle of vermouth over the shaker.) Since vodka is “unflavored gin”, one should consider using even less vermouth than in a gin martini, so yeah, for a vodka martini zero gin might be a good starting point.
Leave us not forget: (You prolly known this already, rich, but I’ll state this for any inexperienced hipsters reading this.) When savoring an ice cold drink from a proper cocktail glass, hold it by the stem to avoid heating the drink with the fingers.
I don’t participate in the shaken/stirred thing, put them both in the fridge and stick with the golden proportion, 4:1. And in homage to Dino I toss in two princess olives, for the vitamins, don’tcha know? But then, I drink Mattingly & Moore, straight, so wotta I know?
I tend to guzzle my gin direct from the bottle, so I’m no help with this conflict. However, is that Dennis the Menace’s Dad snuggled between the two hotties in the back of the room? America needs to know.
I have little or no personal experience with martinis. I tend to go for beer. It is possible that some time in my life I have drunk a martini. I just don’t remember having done so. Tom Lehrer is my authority on martinis. From Bright College Days:
Quod erat demonstrandum.:)
You forgot to mention Noilly Prat by name…..