There are a lot of strong opinions about what makes a great martini. Personally, I’m pretty flexible. I’ve enjoyed them with gin and vodka – dry, wet or dirty. I’m happy with olives, lemon peel or a cocktail onion (though actually I think that’s a Gibson).
Two essentials for me: A great martini must be icy cold. And it must achieve a satisfying balance between its elements. Otherwise, it’s just a cold glass of gin…
I’m in the happy position of having two good friends who make great martinis. As Scott is visiting from Canada this week, I’m featuring his version here (with permission).
Scott’s martini is of the Churchill persuasion, ie, light on the vermouth. His tip: “Chill the glasses, not the alcohol. You want to melt the ice a bit to release the flavour of the gin.”
Scott’s martini
(serves 2)
- 4oz dry gin
- 1 tsp dry vermouth
- ice
- 4 green olives
- cocktail sticks
- Chill the cocktail glasses well in advance.
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Add the gin and vermouth and shake until the shaker is frosted.
- Set the shaker aside while you skewer two olives each on two cocktail sticks. If you like, dip the olives back into the brine in the jar before placing into the chilled cocktail glasses. (“Dirtiness to taste or morals” as Scott puts it.)
- Shake again until the shaker becomes too cold to hold.
- “Pour and enjoy.”
Ten More Bites 
I love the sweet martinis – like pomegranate! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I find I love most martinis, so long as they are well made…;-)
Agreed…if they’re too sweet, bitter or strong, I’m out! 🙂
isn’t it incredible how much variance there is in martini quality when you are basically dealing with only two ingredients. I think it comes down a lot to technique, as with food recipes
I completely agree!