Classic Martini

Make a classic gin martini at home.
No fru-fru girlie martini with flavors and fruit and vodka. (AACK!)

A martini the way it was meant to be.

Here is the video version for people with attention issues. It's only 1 minute long.



Now, for all the people WITH attention spans, here is the Instructable.

Do you have some comfy pants on?

Step 1 Step 1 assemble the tools

-A good quality Gin. If you put it in the freezer and it becomes a block, then it is not good quality.
I use Seagrams gin. There is much better stuff, but it is not bad on a budget.

-Vermouth. Get a nice dry vermouth. Gallo works but it is all I can really find easily. There are better options, but lets not get all snooty over ingredients.

-A nice clean, simple martini glass. Leave the bendy, bubbly, goofy and eccentric ones in the cabinet. Those are for the goofy new fangled martinis that girls like. We are men here, we don't want no stinkin' chocolate in our martini, let alone vodka. (don't get me started)

-Shaker. Use what you have. Not everybody has 15 shakers in their house like me.

Comments

[Marojale]

Only James Bond and people who would like to think they're James Bond (I admit, who doesn't?) want their martini's shaken. Shaking is for cloudy drinks and drinks with fruit juice, "fru-fru" drinks as you call them. The shaking is for blending the flavours. And if you're not adding the vermouth the shaker, the shaking is doing nothing at all except diluting the gin with melted water from the ice. My suggestion: Fill the bottom of the shaker with ice (2/3rds full), pour in the vermouth (1/4 oz), pour in the gin, give it a swirl or a quick stir, and into the chilled glass.

[arthur.nudge]

Well, this is all YMMV land. I prefer stirring (I've been known to throw the shaker across the room in my clumsiness), and I'm a firm believer in the following procedure:
Chill the cocktail glass and mixing glass with icewater.

When the mixing glass is good and cold, empty and reload with crushed ice.

Add 3 parts gin, 1 part vermouth, and a few dashes of Fee Bros. Orange Bitters.  Stir for at least a minute.

Dump the icewater from the cocktail glass and strain the martini into it.

Garnish with  twist of lemon, olive, or onion.

Enjoy.

[Lawst]

Most modern bartends don't use bitters. No idea why not. IMHO it makes the drink. I've got a collection of older bar books and all have it, with vatiations including Peychaud's bitters (better for sweet or perfect variations), vodka instead of gin, dirty, sweet, perfect, different garnishes, and so on. I usually keep an iddy biddy bottle of bitters in my purse rather than send a drink back for that little splash (sort of like keeping a stash of sugar packets and gum).

[ColumbusGEEK]

If you keep bitters and gum in your purse, you must marry me. :)

[ColumbusGEEK]

My reasoning goes like this. The shaking chills the gin. Granted it does dilute it slightly, I really have no problem with that. It is also something to do while the glass with ice in it is chilling down below room temp. Of course you never saw Hawkeye Pearce in MASH chill his martini in the Swamp, so it;s all relative to personnel preferences. 1/4 oz of vermouth is entirely too much for my taste. Personally, I think that much vermouth is why some people do not like martinis. I like to just have a lite spackling of it. Thanks for the advice though. It was educational.

[Marojale]

The shaking is for looking cool when you're mixing drinks... A couple of tests will show that it won't get much colder after two minutes than it would have after 10 seconds (change is temperature is proportional to the temperature difference: once it starts cooling down, the rate of cooling slows). The agitation might actually make it warmer. The glass is a slightly different story, since it won't cool as fast as the gin would because there is less surface area in contact. My solution is to keep everything (glass and all) in the freezer from the start. That way everything is frigid, and I don't have to wait precious minutes for my alcohol. 1/4 oz is the "original" amount of vermouth from most recipes I've ever seen. A "dry" martini has less vermouth, and "extra dry" has none. Now for some unsolicited teaching: A "dirty" martini has the juice from the olive jar in it. A Gibson is exactly the same as the martini, except it has an pearl onion as a garnish in it instead of olives. These drinks have been around so long and there are so many variants. If you're really picky with what you want, it'll sound like you're placing a Starbucks order when you're at the bar. Cheers.

[ColumbusGEEK]

Years have passed since this Instructable. I now make my martinis with no shaking, no stirring, no ice and no vermouth at all. Just Hendricks, Plymouth, or a local gin from here in Columbus. Sometimes a quick splash of water to open the flavors up. Maybe a twist of cucumber.

oh crap, I became a gin snob.....

[GorillazMiko]

Looks good, but I'm too young. :-(

[ColumbusGEEK]

Use water instead of Gin. Freak out your parents by walking around sipping a martini water and commenting on how you enjoy the finer things in life.

[GorillazMiko]

Hahaha, they'll be like, SON, WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING? And I'll be like in an english accent, "Good day sir. It is mighty fine outside, shall I go for a stroll in the park?" Hahaha.

[mattface]

Alternatively memorise Brian Griffin lines, wear a dog collar and pretend you're from Family Guy. That's what I do...