Photo: Condé Nast
At the pinnacle of the Cold War, Russia’s premier, Nikita Khruschev called the martini “the USA’s most lethal weapon.” Amusingly, at the same time, Gerald Ford said “the three martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency.” I’m inclined to agree with both of them.
Several nations lay claim to inventing the gin martini. Americans assert that a kindly bartender created it in the town of Martinez, California around the 1860s. The British say that they named the drink after the Martni-Henry rifle, the gun issued by the military in the1880s which had quite a kick. Folks from Italy allege that the drink was named after the vermouth maker Martini & Rossi, which began bottling the key martini ingredient in 1863. Despite the dispute of its origin, what is undeniable is how popular the potent drink has grown through the decades.
During Prohibition, the drink was swilled in every speakeasy across town—the potent vermouth flavor masked the bitter bathtub gin bootleggers brewed, making it amongst the most palatable. By the time alcohol was legal again in 1933, the martini was the cocktail of choice of the literati, like F. Scott Fitzergerald and Dorothy Parker, and was marked as a sophisticate’s drink (provided said sophisticate had a high tolerance). If you’re having your own three-martini lunch this weekend, this rendering by Gourmet is (almost) perfect.
How dry do you like your martinis?
My perfect martini is Beefeater Gin, Ice, Olive. no vermouth. Small frosted glass.
Behold the power of a space:
Lunch will be gin at noon.
I love this history lesson on my favorite type of martini, thanks! I’m a 3:1 ratio of gin to vermouth person myself (larger martini glass with 3 olives minimum), but always enjoy hearing the old philosophies of a dry martini, including Hitchcock’s where he suggested filling your glass with gin and looking at the vermouth from across the room. Cheers!
3 oz Beefeater Gin, 3/4 oz Dolin Dry vermouth, shaken very well with ice, served in stemmed cocktail glass with 3 pimento-stuffed green olives.
4:1, Tanqueray to Dolin dry vermouth, stirred, not shaken. A pimento-stuffed olive or 2. Occasionally, I add a dash of orange bitters, which I understand was de rigueur in pre-Prohibition days.
I prefer the martini technique Alton Brown practices:
Shake an ounce of dry vermouth in a shaker filled with ice.
Strain out the vermouth
Pour in the gin and shake
Strain into a maritni glass and enjoy
repeat
repeat
Dorothy Parker:
“I like to drink a martini
But only two at the very most.
Three I’m under the table,
Four I’m under the host.”
“..I think I’ll have a Martini…two at the most…Three I’m under the table…four I’m under my host…”
Dorothy Parker
During WWII when vermouth was not available in the UK, Churchill bowed toward the Continent, in lieu, and then dispatched the cold gin. (At least, we hope it was cold. )
(-:
Ok thats all good, but we prefer our gin in the freezer, therefore there will be no water (from the ice) mixed with the gin. Just a spritz of the vermouth. My husband is an olive eater, I enjoy a twist:) Yahoo
I am the martini maker in my house and we enjoy them every weekend. My recipe includes the following things are are essential……..no crucial.
**Martini glasses that are chilled. (I keep them in the freezer)
**5 to 1 ratio. Actually pour the gin over crushed ice and then put the vermouth in the cap of the bottle and drip a drip or so)
**A drip of water
**Shake vigorously until your hands can’t stand the cold. This creates ice crytals on the top of the martini in the glass.
** 3 olives on a martini pick…….or twist of lemon.
**Enjoy the bliss
Ahh, the martini, my favorite drink, preferably made with Hendrix GIN (never Vodka, which is NOT a true martini). Add a spritz of dry Vermouth from a mister to a frosted glass from the freezer, then shake the gin over crushed ice, and pour it into the frosted glass over three olives. Wonderful beverage!!!
Best Martini for me is with 5/6 GinMG or Sapphire, stirred, with a slightly dash of lemon peel and 2 spanish olives, “Gordal” filled with red pepper. A bit wet, but delicious.
3 ounces (2 jiggers) Beefeater gin.
4 drops of Dry Vermouth Noilly Prat ( bottle has to show martini glass on the back label to be dry)
A piece of lime peel, used to rub the edge of the martini glass in a couple of rounds, then discard.
In a small cocktail pitcher shake the the gin with 1 cup of ice cubes, stir well, and strain it into a stemmed cocktail glass. Add two bone jumbo green olives on a tooth pick. Serves two drinks normal size.
[...] there a more classic drink on earth than a well made martini? Though the three martini lunch has gone the way of the cassette tape, I have always been perplexed by its existence. The men most [...]
I started out as a Gin and Tonic drinker. But found myself using less and less Tonic. Then I tried a Martini and fell in love! Started out really dirty, and have over the last year gravitated to super dry, clean. Bombay Sapphire, shaken, straight up with a twist. Wonderful! Kudos to all the Martini Lovers here. We all have are own twist …
Dean Martin – Martinis are like breasts, one is not enough and three is one too many.
Late afternoon Friday, beginning of the weekend, 3 oz. Blue Sapphire, (47 proof if you can find it…I get mine at duty free as i travel internationally a lot but Tanqueray and 10 are also some of my favorites..), 3 drops vermouth…prefer mine in an old fashioned glass (double walled) over ice, twist of lemon, lively conservation, low (until later) music and snacks which get better as consumption of Martini’s increase..ah yes, the weekend!
Glad to see there are some left that can’t understand the vodka martini thing. I like mine with Tanqueray…it’s that herbal finish.
Ah, and they have to be very dirty.
Sapphire (Bootles and Beefeaters are also great), ice, and as Mr. Hitchcock cautioned, look at the vermouth from across the room. Shake with ice until crystals form, strain into a chilled cocktail glass made of fine crystal, garnish with a drop or two of lemon and the peel glided along the rim…ahhhh, the “elixir of the gods”.
Try as I might, I just do not like olives; but a swipe of one on the rim is really quite lovely from time to time. I may use a few cocktail onion also (I know, many eyebrows are raising in skepticism). Vermouth? I use it to cook with; keeping a bottle in the fridge. But I also keep a bottle in the bar (along with a variety of olives) for those who like Dirty Martinis.
The Martini (@116Crown).
3 oz. Plymouth Gin
2 oz. Boisserre Dry Vermouth
Stir ingredients with ice for 45 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a twist of fresh lemon peel. Enjoy. Repeat.