HOW TO MAKE A GREAT MARTINI  |  RECIPES  |  HISTORY  

HOW TO MAKE A GREAT MARTINI...

Here are a few tips to mix your perfect Martini. It's all about ratios. And ice. For a basic Martini chill your stemmed glass, shaker and Gin in the freezer (Vermouth is best kept at room temperature). Put two hard-frozen ice cubes into your shaker, add three parts of Gin to one part Dry Vermouth and shake about eight times. Pour through a cocktail strainer into your chilled glass. Garnish with an olive. Voila! Welcome to the world of movie stars and kings.

.....Remember that the ice is an important part of this recipe because it doesn't just make the drink cold but it helps combine the Gin and Vermouth. The trick is to not let the ice melt and water-down your drink. Of course, the dryer the Martini, the less Vermouth you use, so try a ratio of five to one. For a very dry Martini I suggest adding a shot of Dry Vermouth to your shaker, let it coat the ice, then pour out the Vermouth and add your Gin. Some people I know merely wave the top of an open Vermouth bottle over the shaker. That's dry. But I don't know that it is really a Martini, I think it's called Gin straight.

.....Now the big question: Shaking vs stirring. As you can tell, I shake my martini... I feel if your Gin, glasses and shaker are properly chilled, this is the fasted way of mixing for the least dilution from the ice.

      
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RECIPIES...

      
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HISTORY...

The origins of the Martini will probably never be agreed upon. Some say it was born in San Francisco mid-19th century, while others credit it to a New York Bartender named Martini who claimed he mixed the first in 1912. Some assume that it gets its name from the famous dry vermouth so commonly used in the drink, Martini & Rossi, or to the British made Martini & Henry rifle, while many like to believe it is named after a drink developed in Martinez, CA and originally called the Martini. One story I've heard even claims it was invented by a 19th century Italian chef working in London who named it after his grandfather.

With current mixing tendencies leaning toward using lesser and lesser amounts of vermouth in Martinis, one might credit 17th century Dutch professor of medicine, Franciscus de Boe Sylvius with inventing the Martini. The pure alcohol he distilled from the oil of juniper berries and intended as a blood purifier has come down through the ages to us sophisticates as gin -- shortened by the English from the Dutch word for juniper, genever.
Whatever its origins the Martini is a quintessentialy North American drink. For the better part of the 20th century the Martini has been the perennial king of cocktails.

      
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