Dry Martini

A chilled gin martini served up in a graceful cocktail glass is one of the most elegant drinks you can order out—but the truth is, it’s remarkably easy to make one at home. The recipe for a classic martini is fairly straightforward, just gin and vermouth, plus an olive or lemon twist if desired. The key is to stir the drink with lots of ice until it is very, very cold (forget what James Bond said about shaking it), then pour it into a chilled cocktail glass (we like a coupe) to keep everything as cold as possible.

This dry martini recipe calls for five parts gin to one part dry vermouth, which gives the drink a lovely aromatic quality. If you prefer an even drier cocktail, you can lower the proportion of vermouth to ¼ ounce—but don’t leave it out altogether or your drink won’t be a martini at all (just a glass of icy cold gin). That said, there’s no wrong way to enjoy this drink. Over the years people have come up with a long list of martini cocktail variations that are all delicious: You can add a dash of orange bitters to the above ratio to compliment the citrus notes of the spirit, use equal parts gin and vermouth for a Fifty-Fifty, use a combination of dry and sweet vermouths for a “perfect martini” or a combination of gin and vodka for a vesper, add some olive juice to the mix for a dirty martini, or swap the olive for a cocktail onion to make a Gibson.

Vodka martini drinker? This way, please →