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Perfect Gin Martini Recipe

Perfect Gin Martini
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: Under 5 mins | Makes: 1 drink

If you prefer a martini with only vodka and the barest suggestion of vermouth, avert your eyes. Assertive gin and a healthy dose of vermouth mix here for a smooth version of the classic. If an olive takes up too much room in your cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon twist.

This recipe was featured as part of our New Year’s Eve cocktails.

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 ounces dry gin
  • 1 ounce dry vermouth
  • Ice
  • Olives or a twist of lemon, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Place a cocktail glass in the freezer to chill.
  2. Combine the gin and vermouth in a shaker, fill it halfway with ice, and stir vigorously until well chilled, about 20 seconds. Strain into the chilled glass. Garnish with olives or a twist of lemon. (If using a twist, be sure to run the slice over the glass’s rim.)
    Write a review | 8 Reviews
  • Perfect Gin Martini Recipe
    5

    I was just about to fix my evening Martini when I came across this recipe. I have been using this recipe for over 10 years. I have a few variations to the methods described. For a standard martini, I use jiggers instead of ponies with the same traditional 2:1 ratio of gin to vermouth. That makes for an easy pour of 1/2 jigger Vermouth to 1 jigger Gin. For a dry martini I use the standard 5:1 ratio. For extra dry I use 8:1 ration. No bitters. For a Medium Martini, I follow the Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide, 63rd Edition with 1 jigger gin, 1/2 jigger sweet vermouth, and 1 jigger dry vermouth. I keep both my vermouth and my Tanquerey in the refrigerator. I keep my vodka in the freezer. Ian Fleming made the "shaken, not stirred" famous. I prefer the old gentry method of gently stirring. This produces a cool, clean, clear martini. I use 2 to 3 ice cubes per drink. Since the other ingredients are already cold this makes for a colder, less watered down drink. Warning for beginners: a "twist of lemon" is a slice of lemon peel without any fruit or pulp. Alton Brown showed an excellent way to remove the bitter, unedible pulp. Be sure to gently squeeze the lemon peel against the glass just before serving. This process releases the precious lemon oil that adds a delicious dimension to the gin.

  • Perfect Gin Martini Recipe
    5

    That is the prefect martini, The whole idea of vermouth is to take the bite out if the gin, and still have a strong drink.I prefer crushed ice, it waters it down a little more. 2 shots Bombay White gin and 1 shot Biessiere dry vermouth. Stirred of course. I also let it set for five or ten minuets so that the alcohol lowers the temperature of the martini. The beauty of the martini is its a drink that you make for yourself, everyone's taste is different. Experiment until you find out how you like it. Heaven in a glass.

  • Late to the party, but would like to point out a couple things: @ EvergreenDan: Since it takes months or years for a spirit to oxidize, I think it is more important that people use a fresh vermouth in this drink, which, like most wine, oxidizes significantly soon after it is opened. Treat your vermouth like you would other wines, and straight to the fridge with it once its opened. You can save yourself from the misfortune of over-oxidized vermouth by buying small bottles and using it as cooking wine (if it suits your tastes). I find this is a good solution with my preferred Noilly Prat, which also is not terribly expensive to cook with. @ CHOW/Amy W.: Don't forget the dash of orange bitters! it can pull together the gin and vermouth. Missed a chance to link back to the site. http://www.chow.com/recipes/12038-orange-bitters French Culinary Institute research (Dave Arnold et. al.) suggests proper dilution & cooling is achieved at 45 sec of stirring, though equilibrium is not reached till around 2 min. As I write their link is broken.

  • No need to stir "vigorously." This will aerate the gin (changing the texture) and introduce ice shards (causing later in-the-glass dilution, unless double-strained out). Stir so that you don't break the ice. 20 seconds is generally not long enough to reach full chilling. 30-35 seconds will reach near-maximum chilling. Be sure the gin is fresh since it is a major flavor component. Try different vermouths; they taste quite different. Also, a high-proof gin will hold up to this ratio, avoiding a watery Martini. -- www.kindredcocktails.com | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community

  • I wanna try this today thanks!

  • Now you're talkin'! Finally some are starting to acknowledge the contribution of a good vermouth to this drink, instead of playing the "make mine extremely dry (wink, wink) or "very dirty" (because they can't really stand the taste of gin) game to (erroneously attempt to) demonstrate how "refined" their tastes are, or they simply switch to vodka (or hey, ow about a "chocolate martini," huh?) because they have no taste! Thanks for posting this. Don't forget to experiment yourselves with the ratios to get the drink to taste like you want it to taste, not how hip it sounds to say the silly variations when you order it!

  • In classic recipe books, a "Perfect" martini has equal part sweet and dry vermouth in addition to the gin.

  • Now THAT'S more like it! Actually, I enjoy the gamut from the original Dry Martini (equal parts gin and dry vermouth, dash of bitters) up to 5 to 1, depending on the mood. As it happens, we are seeing a new crop of bartenders who understand the concept of vermouth as an actual ingredient, rather than as a distant rumor, which makes me feel good about the future of civilization …

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