Every martini drinker has his own version of the dry martini recipe. Nine out of ten
bartenders (and I’m being kind) cannot make a good martini. The ingredients make all
the difference:
Only the gentlest of English gins should be used. I prefer Bombay.
Only use imported dry vermouth (the domestic doesn’t cut it, it’s just too
overpowering), and I prefer Italian.
There are as many stories concerning the origin of the martini as there are saloons in
the world. I like this one:
Invented by an English barman in the early 1920s, who used 1/3 Martini and Rossi dry
vermouth, 1/3 Martini and Rossi sweet vermouth, 1/3 gin. Chilled and poured into a
1½-ounce stemmed glass. The drink got its name because of the vermouth brand used. The
dry martini arrived a few years later, eliminating the sweet vermouth and using 1/3 dry
vermouth and 2/3 gin. It is said that Ernest Hemingway refined the dry martini to its
present stature in 1926 (or so) at the Georges V (hotel) bar in Paris over a three-day
period. The end result was eight parts gin to one part vermouth (which comes out to about
½ ounce of vermouth to 2½ jiggers of gin).
I use 1 ounce to three jiggers and I’ve had nothing but huzzahs! as we
raise our glasses. Don’t forget to chill the glass first.
