Beyond the olive or the twist. Here is an essential guide to the best Martini garnishes.
In this essential guide, we feature an important aspect of the Martini and explore the world of Martini garnishes.
When it comes to the Martini, we mean the classic cocktail (gin or vodka), not any drink with a juice or a sweetener and the suffix ‘tini’ appended to its name.
The Martini garnish plays an important role aside from aesthetics in an instagram-centric world. The right garnish complements the cocktail, provides a pleasing aroma, builds up anticipation of the first taste then imparts a lasting note to the final sip.
Here is an essential guide to the best Martini garnishes:
1. Martini Garnishes: Olives
It comes as no surprise that olives are not often recommended by bartenders. For the home bartender who prefers this garnish, the best olives for a Martini are Sicilian olives. They add a fruity flavour and a hint of a briny note to the cocktail. They also have a firm texture that holds up well in the drink.
A Martini purist will have a single or three olives (always an odd number) skewered on a cocktail pick and placed into the drink, not rested on the rim. The choice of pitted or unpitted comes down to personal preference but olives with their pits intact hold their shape better.
Stuffed olives don’t have the right texture and introduce other flavours into the Martini. It’s best to avoid pimento stuffed olives, lemon peel stuffed olives, olives stuffed with anchovies and blue cheese stuffed olives and any olives stored in oil. These are at best served on the side as in a classic sidecar. And that’s if you must.
2. Martini Garnishes: Lemon Twist
A favourite garnish among bartenders, the lemon twist (with the pith removed) can serve to brighten the gin and enhance the vermouth. A lemon twist can be expressed over the drink to leave a mist of oil then discarded, twisted over the drink then dropped into it, or wiped round the rim and stem of the glass for an extra citrus hit.
The lemon twist comes in various shapes and sizes and with the growing popularity of the lemon peel circle the size of a coin, it adds a pleasing aesthetic effect to the drink while minimising waste.
3. Martini Garnishes: Pickled Onions
Pickled onions are used in a Gibson, which is essentially a Martini with pickled onions as garnish.
Pickled onions add a savoury element to the drink and work well in savoury style gins. Whether it’s three mini pickled onions or a single medium sized onion, the best part is nibbling it at the end once it has absorbed some of the flavours of the Martini. Here’s how to make cocktail onions for a perfect Gibson.
Alternatively, five pickled onions can be served on the side as is the case in the Tequila Gibson, a cocktail devised by bartender Francesco Turrini. Why five? Because you need one for each sip.
Pickled onions can be store-bought or made in-house at the bar or at home. If buying them, it pays to check the amount of sugar on the label as some tend to be on the sweeter side and take away from the savouriness of the drink. Many bars make their own such as Moya’s Juniper Lounge and The Duke of Clarence. There are many recipes online for DIY pickled onions such as this one, the challenge being pearl onions or small pickling onions are not easy to find.
4. Martini Garnishes: Orange Peel, Grapefruit Peel
Other citrus peel such as orange peel and grapefruit peel aren’t as common but can be used to enhance the botanicals in some gins.
5. Bitters & Tinctures
Bitters and tinctures aren’t garnishes per se but they can alter the colour of the Martini while adding another flavour dimension. Orange bitters enhance citrus notes, celery bitters highlight savoury notes while Angostura bitters add spice. Saline is often used to enhance the savoury notes and deliver a brighter and crisper Martini.
6. Other Martini Garnishes
The Martini is not a Gin & Tonic, a Bloody Mary or a salad: it doesn’t need every garnish under the sun. Below are some tried and tested suggestions for different flavours while staying true to the classic cocktail.
- green olives speared on a sprig of rosemary in a savoury gin Martini
- oyster with its brine in a Dirty Martini
- one whole stemmed caperberry in a Filthy Martini
- konbu rolled on a cocktail pick for an umami Martini
- octopus tentacle in a squid ink Martini
- samphire or karkalla (beach bananas) and cracked pepper in a savoury/briny Martini
- garlic and cracked pepper in a vodka Martini (inspired by Polugar No 2 Garlic & Pepper Vodka)
- nori / seaweed in an umami Martini
- cornichons or pickled vegetables in a Spanish style Martini made with fino sherry
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