The Martini is probably the most classic cocktail of all time. Just the name conjures up images of Nick Charles mixing one to an admiring crowd of bartenders in The Thin Man, of Nora's demand that five more be lined up for her (and her subsequent hangover), of Robert Benchley telling Ginger Rogers she should slip out of her wet things and into a dry...but you get the picture.
A dry Martini is what most people ask for, and it's what they've always expected to be served. One thing has changed, however. Back in the 20's and 30's, a dry Martini held quite a bit of vermouth alongside the gin.
According to The Savoy Cocktail Book, a Martini (dry) Cocktail was 2/3 gin and 1/3 dry vermouth. The foolish bartender who tried to sell those proportions nowadays would loose not only his tip, but maybe his customer, too, for good. Some things have changed for the better since the 1930s.
Take a cocktail shaker filled with clean, dry ice, and measure in the gin. Pour some dry vermouth into the jigger and sprinkle a few drops into the shaker (discard the rest). Shake vigorously, and strain out into a stemmed cocktail glass. Garnish. If using the lemon peel, twist until the oils come to the surface, and rub the peel gently around the rim before dropping into the glass.
*I prefer Miller's or Bombay Sapphire, both British gins. Yes, thanks to James Bond, you can make it with vodka. But for heaven's sake, don't tell my father—or anyone at The Algonquin!
| Order up one of these other Classic Cocktails... |
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The Pink Grapefruit—One evening two years ago, during a run of drinking Sidecars, I found that the cognac was all gone but still wanted a cocktail. So, I foraged through the cupboards and came up with the Pink Grapefruit. The Dry Martini—Wherever you are, whether it's snowing or raining, slip out of those wet things and into the most classic cocktail of all, the quintessential quaff...a nice, dry Martini. The French 75—According to The Savoy Cocktail Book (ca. 1930), it "hits with remarkable precision". It does, like the 75 mm gun that gave its name to the concoction—the French 75 is delicious and dangerous. The Manhattan—In 1874, Jenny Jerome threw a bash at the Manhattan Club and asked the bartender to create a special drink to toast the guest of honor. Liking the end result, she christened it after its place of birth. |
