A CLASSIC MARTINI

Recipes for martinis, which first appeared around 1900, have undergone revisions over the years.  Originally equal parts gin and vermouth, by the 1940s many also featured a dash of bitters.  Beginning in the 1950s, proportions started to shrink, eventually almost to the vanishing point.  Today an extra-dry martini contains 1 part vermouth to 12 parts gin, and some just wave the vermouth bottle over the glass.  And while James Bond (or Ian Fleming) may object, the current preference is to stir, not shake, martinis on the theory that shaking drinks like martinis or Manhattans that are served neat, without ice, will dilute them.

3 fluid ounces gin

1 tablespoon dry vermouth

1 green cocktail olive or 1 lemon twist, for garnish

____________

1.   Pour the gin and vermouth into a mixing glass two thirds full of ice cubes.  Stir well.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and add the desired garnish.

from Ray Foley, The Bar Guide (Willliams Sonoma)

A DRINK WITH SOMETHING IN IT

There is something about a Martini,

A tingle remarkably pleasant;

A yellow, mellow Martini;

I wish I had one at present.

There is something about a Martini,

Ere the dancing and dining begin,

And to tell you the truth,

It is not the vermouth –

I think that perhaps it’s the gin.

Ogden Nash

TIFFANY’S STERLING SILVER MINIATURE OIL CAN DELIVERS THE BRIEFEST SQUIRT OF VERMOUTH TO YOUR MARTINI

JAMES BOND’S VESPER MARTINI (1 drink)

In Ian Fleming’s classic 1953 novel Casino Royale, suave special agent James Bond approaches a bartender and gives specific instructions for a special martini, one that includes Lillet Blanc, not vermouth, in its ingredients.  He names it the Vesper after his love interest, Vesper Lynd (vesper means “evening” in Latin, and she was born on a stormy evening).   His instructions are so precise that the reader can prepare the drink, but remember, it must be “shaken, not stirred.”

3 tablespoons (1-1/2 ounces) Gordon’s London dry gin

1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) vodka

½ tablespoon (1/4 ounce) Lillet blanc

1 lemon

____________

1.   Place the gin, vodka and Lillet blanc into a cocktail shaker and fill it with ice.  Shake until cold.

2.   Strain the drink into a cocktail glass.

3.   Use a knife to remove a 1 inch wide strip of lemon peel and squeeze it into the drink to release the oils.  Gently run the peel around the rim of the glass, then place it in the glass and serve.

adapted from http://www.acouplecooks.com