(Dry) Martini

The Martini is, without a doubt, the cocktail where people have the most disagreements. Be it the choice of spirit, ratios, temperature, serving size, history… You name it. It’s literally impossible to give hints on a Martini because everyone has conflicting opinions over it.

You’re on your own, kid.

We’re serious, you’re not going to find hints here. Stop scrolling.

Okay, wait, here’s one piece of advice: Muster all your patience when talking about Martinis with other people – you’ll need it.  

Some people say that debating over the best type of Martini is half of the fun of having one.

Stubborn, eh? Ok, so… A great number of people agree that the key to a Martini is temperature – The gin, the vermouth and the glassware should be kept as cold as possible before being mixed and served. On the other hand, cold temperatures numb your tongue and consequently your sense of taste, which means you wouldn’t pick up as many nuances from the ingredients…

Unless you already have a very dry palate as you’re starting your journey into cocktails, the Martini is perhaps not the best place to start. The main recipe will probably be too spirit-forward for you, so we recommend you try the Reverse Martini first (see Related Cocktails).

If you’re making this for someone else, make sure they’re extra descriptive on what they actually want (choice of spirit, ratios, etc.).

Best piece of advice? Support Cocktailarium – it’ll make your Martinis better.

The name Martini is connected to Martini & Rossi, who in marketing their brand of vermouth, helped cement the cocktail and its name to the ubiquitous place it holds today.

The name “Dry” Martini is most likely related to the use of dry vermouth. Alternatively, it could be related to the use of London Dry Gin (as opposed to genever, or Old Tom Gin). It is not necessarily a note on the cocktail’s taste.

There’s a good chance the Martini is an evolution of similar drinks such as the Martinez and the Marguerite. These drinks also contained gin and vermouth, although the former uses sweet vermouth instead of dry, and the latter initially contained anisette.

Even in the early days of the Martini, there was always some form of orange flavor in them, be it orange bitters or even curaçao. Some time in the early 1900s the curaçao was dropped and the cocktail has become increasingly drier over the years.

This cocktail calls for one or three olives as garnish because using two is considered bad luck. The origin of this superstition could be that bartenders would serve a cocktail with two olives when they wanted to discreetly inform their customer that they were in trouble.