Ask a bartender for a Martini, and you’ll often be faced with some decision making. Would you like it made with gin or vodka, an olive or a twist – these are the basic questions but a good bartender often goes a little further.
How to Order a Martini – Photo © Cocktails & Bars
The same applies if you’re making a Martini at home. Unlike many other cocktails, the Martini is personal and everyone has their favourite specifications. The Martini is almost ceremonial, a drink that needs patience. It has become a Friday night ritual in the home bar and a tradition that goes back many years further that we care to remember.
So here are 8 tips on how to order a Martini at your favourite bar or make one at home.
How to Order a Martini
1. Gin or Vodka
The choice comes to personal preference. With the thriving gin scene in Australia and internationally, gin Martinis have gained popularity. We are now spoilt for choice whether we want a London Dry such as Sipsmith Gin, American Gins such as Greenhook Gin, or New World Gins such as The Broadside from West Winds Gin. But there is no need to shun vodka. Many enjoyable Vodka Martinis were had over the years that have been well crafted and made with premium brands. If it’s a vodka that you can sip neat, it usually goes well in a Martini.
2. Wet or Dry (Vermouth)
In the early years, Martini were made with a one to one ratio of spirit to vermouth. That’s very wet. If you prefer to taste the spirit, try something like a 3:1 ratio or the Churchill Martini, made with gin and a bottle of vermouth present in the room. The choice of vermouth can change the flavour of the Martini. Our go-to is Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth, and more recently Maidenii Dry Vermouth and La Quintinye Vermouth Extra Dry from France.
3. Temperature
The Martini is best enjoyed chilled. Always chill your glassware or if you have the space, keep the bottle of gin or vodka in the freezer. At the Eau de Vie Bar in Sydney, the Martinis are nitro chilled, and they’re delicious to the last drop.
4. Glassware
A Martini is meant to be enjoyed in 10 to 15 minutes. Any longer and it loses its chill. Choose smaller glassware like a coupette or the classic Nick and Nora glassware not the large V-shaped glasses. If that’s all you have, keep the martini in a sidecar, which is a small beaker on a bed of ice and top up your drink.
5. Shaken or Stirred
James Bond may have his preference but it’s become increasingly rare to see Martinis shaken with ice. If you want it the way Bond likes it, make sure you strain the Martini to ensure no ice shards get into the drink.
6. Bitters
When it comes to bitters, a dash or two of orange bitters can brighten a Martini and work well with the botanicals of the gin. Other bitters and martini combinations include Abbott’s bitters, smoked celery bitters for a savoury note and hickory-smoked apricot bitters.
7. Aromatic Sprays
Not usually the domain of the home bar or the Martini purist, but an aromatic spray of citrus or peated whisky can add subtle aromas to the drink. Some options to try are absinthe, a combination of pink grapefruit, kaffir lime and blood orange, a smoky whisky with rose.
8. Garnish
“An olive or a twist” is the most often asked question. In all my Martini drinking experience, I’ve never had a bartender recommend an olive garnish unless I had ordered a dirty martini. If you like olives in your drink, Sicilian olives are the best. Leave the stuffed olives alone, be it with pimento or blue cheese, for your Bloody Mary. For a lemon twist, squeeze the oils from the strip of citrus over the top of your drink. Other popular garnishes include rosemary for woody and herbaceous notes, twists of orange and lemon peel and pickled onions for the Gibson.
We leave you with one more pearl of Martini wisdom. A Martini is not for amateurs, and just because you’ve taken to the drink, don’t assume your friends can handle that Vesper Martini you’ve been wanting to make them. Lesson learned the hard way.
For more Martini inspiration, take a look at our #fridaynightmartiniritual
Glassware by The Drink Cabinet.
Originally published 25 August 2015. Updated 14 June 2019.
