How to Make the Perfect Martini

Making the perfect martini requires that you have a little knowledge about the role that Vermouth can play in the resultant taste. Technically the perfect martini would be one that uses equal parts of dry and sweet vermouth in one part to three parts gin (not vodka!)  Only poseurs call a vodka martini a martini.

 

To understand the history of vermouth’s role in martini making you need to understand that the original martini was made with Italian (sweet) Vermouth.  Dry cocktails came along much later when French (dry) vermouth was invented.  So for the longest time, when people ordered a “dry” martini or a “dry” Manhattan they meant a cocktail that was created with French vermouth.

 

The invention of French (dry) Vermouth also created another Martini called “the Perfect Martini.”  A perfect martini is made with equal parts of BOTH French (dry) and Italian (sweet) vermouth.  When they ordered a “dry martini” the cocktail was made with French vermouth only.

 

Somehow over time, the term “dry martini” also came to mean adding less and less vermouth.   This is has evolved to the extent that in the 21st century bartenders are now putting vermouth in “misters” and simply spraying the glass with Vermouth.

 

As rule of thumb remember that a glass of chilled vodka is not a martini.  It is just a glass of vodka.

 

The second aspect of making a perfect martini has to do with “tuning” the flavors.  The sharp alcoholic bite of straight gin or vodka does not count as a flavor; it is more of a texture. The reason gin is preferred is because it is a blend of botanical and sometimes spicy flavors in itself.  A true martini gets its ‘nip” from the juniper in gin.

 

One of the secrets to making a great martini is to mix these ingredients so that they achieve a perfect balance.

 

First make sure you are using high quality ingredients: gin and vermouth.

 

Make sure you are using high quality water.  Chlorine is not a tasty element in a martini.

 

Whether you are making a Martinez, a Dry Martini or a Perfect Martini make sure you follow your recipe to the letter.

 

Estimate the amount of ice you want to melt into the water before you load the ice into the shaker. Remember that if you shake a Martini, there will be more water melded into the water than if you stir it.

 

Be sure to strain the drink before you pour it into a chilled glass and garish it with the appropriate onion or olive

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Creative Cocktail Garnishes

Cocktail garnishing is in essence a kind of visual art that is practiced by great mixologists all over the world. It is educational as well as inspirational to look at the latest trends in cocktail decoration.

 

Ever since Smirnoff started pushing the chocolate martini, bartenders have been going wild trying to come up with garnishes for this drink.  This has included everything from perching a Hershey’s Kiss at the side of the glass, to frosting the rim with chocolate Jell-O pudding powder to dropping a chocolate covered coffee bean at the bottom of the glass.

 

Another trend is to soak your own cherries in a liqueur and then use that as a garnish.  A chocolate martini in that case could be garnished with a cherry that has been soaked in kirsch or Kahlua; an old fashioned cocktail or martini could be garnished with a cherry that is pickled in dry French vermouth.

 

Another huge trend is star fruit.  It has replaced the kiwi of the garnish “of the moment.” This is an oval tropical fruit that once sliced vertically, concedes a beautiful yellow star shape. This fruit is used to garnish everything from the simplest of martinis to the most foamy of tropical drinks.  In the name of simplicity” many bartenders are simply dropping a single cranberry, pomegranate seed or blueberry into the bottom of cosmopolitans or Crantinis to give the cocktail a sleek but minimalist look.

 

Other unusual garnishes include rum drinks that are served with a stick of raw sugar cane, vermouth drinks that are pepped up with a clove stuck into an orange segment or crystallized ginger, and gummy bears and jelly beans that are dropped to the bottom of a glass.

 

You can replace the olive with just about any other savory fruit or vegetable imaginable – as long as it is spiced.  Long green and yellow beans stuffed with pimento, pickled mushrooms, almonds marinated chili peppers, white pickled asparagus and pickled artichokes are making their appearance as martini garnishes across the country.

 

Bloody Marys and Bloody Caesars have also had a bit of a makeover, boasting asparagus spears, very long green beans, bunches of tall herbs such as thyme or oregano and vertically cut cucumber strips and carrots as “stirrers” in the drink.   You even see celery sticks loaded with blue cheese and big hunks of ham in these drinks. Some cocktails nowadays are so loaded with food that they are practically a meal in themselves.

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