The Dry Martini, one of the most iconic cocktails of all times, is a bartender’s favorite. It started back in the day from an experimental combination of gin and vermouth (originally sweet vermouth) and slowly evolved to become the Dry Martini we know and love. It has since taken on many other shapes and forms.
This cocktail is a great way of tasting your spirit of choice - such as a specific Vodka or Gin - by making it more approachable.
The cocktail contains few ingredients:
The base spirit - most bars opt for a cleaner, more neutral brand for the default version.
Dry vermouth - a fortified wine with no more than 5% sugar.
Ice for preparing - often the most overlooked and underrated ingredient.
Garnish - lemon peel for a fresh, bright aroma or olives to add a richer, umami element.
Having such few ingredients makes every one of them crucial to the overall cocktail. Changing any aspect of the drink would lead to a different result. Whether that would be using gin or vodka and its flavor profile (London Dry Gin vs. the more experimental New World Gin or vodka made from various grains, roots or fruits ), the type of vermouth and its ratio to the spirit (less vermouth would lead to a drier cocktail), ice (the quality of the water and the rate of dilution), the garnish and its implementation (Dirty Martini anyone?), the type of glassware and its temperature.
There is one element that stands out and makes this one of the most well-known classic cocktails…James Bond, of course. In the films, Bond orders his version of the drink, the Vesper Martini, with little to no room for error from the bartender – specifying the cocktail’s recipe, the ratio between the ingredients and its unforgettable method of preparation, “shaken, not stirred”. This last detail is crucial (stirring vs. shaking is a great topic for another post) because most bars stir the cocktail. Ian Fleming, who wrote James Bond, would order a shaken Martini since he thought that the cocktail had a better taste than the stirred version. Also this method of preparation for the martini was thought to be unorthodox and edgy, a perfect depiction of his tough as nails protagonist.
As you can tell by now, there are an endless amount ways to make a Martini. One twist is to use our Green Chilli Distillate, that gives the cocktail a green bell pepper aroma and provides it with another layer of flavor. The spiciness isn’t present in the the drink, since the pungent taste of the chilli has a hard time passing through the evaporation process. In addition, this distillate works well with olives or a lemon peel, and pushes us to experiment with different combinations.
Cocktail Recipe
Green Chilli Dry Martini
60ml (2 oz) London Dry Gin
(we use Tanqueray)
12.5ml (5/12 oz) Dry Vermouth
(we use Noily Prat Dry)
3 Dashes Green Chilli Distillate
Combine your gin and vermouth in a mixing glass, add high-quality ice cubes and stir for approximately 30 seconds. Strain the liquid into a frosted coupe glass, followed by the green chilli distillate on top of the cocktail.
Garnish with a lemon peel. Or Olives. We don’t judge.
Green Chilli Distillate
Recipe
200ml Vodka of choice (we use Ketel 1)
10g Green Chilli
Blend ingredients thoroughly with an immersion blender and let sit overnight. Place the liquid in the evaporation flask of Rotary Evaporator and evaporate to 65% ABV.
This process does require specialized machinery. At Liquidium we make it easier for you to experiment with these types of products.
The Green Chilli Distillate, as well as our other distillates are all available for purchase at our online/physical store.
Pro Tips:
- Try to tweak your Dry Martini with different ratios, or maybe even a Reverse Martini – where it is heavy on the vermouth instead of the base spirit.
- Try making a Dirty Martini – in the mixing glass, prior to pouring the ingredients, add 3 bar spoons of the olive brine. For extra oomph, muddle 3 olives of choice. This will make the cocktail cloudy, give it an interesting texture and a deeper flavor profile.