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Martini

Medium

The Martini is one of the world’s most famous cocktails, with a clean, clear flavour and appearance that’s celebrated in so many books and films. But there remains that one lingering question when you come to make it: do I shake or stir?
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About this recipe

With a base of quality gin giving subtle botanical flavour and great texture, and just a hint of vermouth, the classic Martini cocktail has few peers. But there’s no need to be put off by its reputation as a giant of the cocktail world. A good Martini has minimal ingredients and just a little stirring. Or at least, that’s the case if you don’t follow the dictates of the fictional James Bond, who requested his Martini “Shaken not stirred” for the first time in Ian Fleming’s Dr. No novel in 1958. So…to shake or to stir? Shaking enters the world of cocktail making when you need to combine two pretty incompatible ingredients – e.g. a spirit and egg white as with the Sour, or vodka and cream, such as in the case of the White Russian. It’s hard to understand why you’d do this with vermouth and a white spirit. Shaking certainly does give a little aeration, and it doesn’t ‘bruise’ the white spirit in a Martini as some experts claim – there’s no evidence to back up this piece of poetic licence. In other words, just create the Martini the way you want, remembering that stirring gently gives just the right dilution, while amalgamating the ingredients. Traditionally made with gin, trends in the 1990s led to vodka taking over as the default Martini base. But the Gin Martini has bounced back to compete with the Vodka Martini, and it has history on its side. That’s because the Martini evolved from a combination of the Manhattan and the Martinez, which was based on Dutch genever (the forerunner of gin) and Old Tom bin (a sweet, early version of gin). Early versions of the Martini were sweet, like the Martinez – hence the need to emphasise a ‘Dry’ Martini’ later on. As the recipe became refined, the popularity of the Martini soared. It has by far and away the most TV and film mentions of any cocktail, from William Powell in The Thin Man, to Jason Alexander playing George Costanza in Seinfeld. Dorothy Parker talked about the Martini at the Algonquin Hotel in New York, and Eric Stolz references the classic cocktail in his 2005 film Kicking and Screaming. What about the garnish? Well, again there’s debate ¬as to whether you use a lemon twist or olive. We’ve gone for an olive because this lets the other ingredients shine through in the cocktail. Adding the brine with the olive creates a Dirty Martini, the Gibson has two small onions instead of an olive, and a Franklin Martini uses two olives. But whatever you opt for, mixing up a Martini will give you a taste for classic cocktails and you won’t look back!

Ingredients for

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50ml.
Gordon's® London Dry Gin
5ml.
Dry Vermouth
1piece(s)
Olive
➤ 1.9 units of alcohol per serve

Equipment

1 x
Martini glass
1 x
Jigger
1 x
Ice
1 x
Blender
1 x
Strainer

How to make

Fill a shaker with ice.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Add Gordon's London Dry Gin and dry vermouth to the shaker.

Using a jigger, measure 50ml Gordon's London Dry Gin and 5ml vermouth into the shaker.
Stir until cold.

Stir the mixture vigorously until the surface of the cocktail shaker feels chilled.
Strain into a martini glass.

Using a cocktail strainer, strain the cocktail into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with an olive.

Place a black olive on top of the drink to garnish.

Grab a bite

Get some grub in before or while you’re drinking – it slows alcohol absorption.
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Gordon's® London Dry Gin

Distilling pure spirit with vibrant botanicals, Gordon set the standard for London dry gin with a clean, pure flavour palate, plus subtle juniper aroma.

Martini

About this recipe

Ingredients for

Equipment

How to make

Grab a bite

Gordon's® London Dry Gin

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