The Best Way to Make a Martini May Turn Some Heads
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While I’m happy to sip a glass of wine or enjoy a crisp beer, at the end of the day, I’m really a cocktail gal. Over the years I’ve realized that although I enjoy perusing the menu at a cocktail bar and tasting their complicated concoctions, I always go back to the classics — an old-fashioned, a Manhattan, and perhaps the king of classic cocktails, the martini.
The martini has a long — often disputed — history and can most likely be traced back to California in the mid-1800s where a drink was invented made of gin, vermouth, bitters, and maraschino liqueur called the Martinez. Over time, the drink evolved, shedding the maraschino, swapping sweet vermouth for dry, and losing the bitters along the way. By the early 1900s, the drink had become something much closer to how we think of it today, and an enduring classic was born.
This seemingly simple cocktail has spawned a surprising amount of variations. What makes the ideal martini? Should it be dry or wet? What kind of gin should you use? Is it better to add olive brine, or skip it? Well friends, after lots of sipping, I finally figured out what truly makes a great martini. Here’s what I found.
The best martini is a dirty martini made with juniper-forward London dry gin, dry vermouth, and 1/4 ounce of olive brine. The addition of salty brine takes this classic to new heights and gives it extra depth and balance. If you don’t prefer your martinis dirty, opt for a wet martini with a higher ratio of vermouth to gin, which also makes for a smooth, harmonious cocktail.
A Few Notes on Methodology
Martinis are deceptively simple. Made with just two to three ingredients, it would seem at first glance that I’d have trouble even coming up with seven different iterations to test. However, the pared-down ingredient list disguises a glut of differentiations to consider, so I had to set some hard parameters.
The liquor. Though martinis made with both vodka and gin are quite popular these days, gin is the classic base for this cocktail, and thus what I chose to test with here.
The mixing method. James Bond may have popularized the idea of shaking a martini, but stirring is both the historical and more ubiquitous method for mixing this drink, so that’s what I opted for.
The olives. I used Spanish olives stuffed with pimentos both as a garnish and as a third ingredient when testing a dirty martini.
The testing. I employed a tiered testing method, starting by comparing two different styles of gin, London Dry and New American Gin, in the same classic martini recipe. I then tested different martini styles, which — for the most part — meant adjusting the ratio of gin to vermouth, to determine a final winner. I tested all six drinks on the same day and tasted them both alone and side by side.
Ratings. I rated each martini on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 representing a well-balanced cocktail where a single element didn’t overwhelm the others.
London Dry vs. New American Gin
At its core, gin is a high-proof alcohol flavored with juniper and other flavorings. There are more than a few different variations on that simple formulation, including Plymouth gin (which can only originate from Plymouth, England), sloe gin (which is made by macerating sloe berries in gin), and old tom gin (a British style of sweetened gin.)
For testing what makes the best martini though, it makes sense to stick to the varieties that are most commonly used in that cocktail and readily available at most liquor stores: London dry and New American. London dry gin is predominantly flavored with juniper, while new American gin (also known as contemporary gin) includes additional botanicals and generally has a less juniper-forward flavor. Notably, the moniker “new American” does not necessarily refer to where the liquor is distilled. For this testing I used Tanqueray (London dry) and Hendricks (new American) respectively, since they are both affordable options that aren’t difficult to find in stores.
Method #1: New American Gin
Rating: 3/10
About this method: For this first tier of testing, I stirred together a martini in a chilled glass using a “classic” ratio of 2 ounces of New American gin (I opted for Hendrick’s, which is readily available in my area) and 1/2 ounce of dry vermouth. I garnished the drink with 2 olives before tasting.
Results: This was surprising for me. New American gin is essentially London dry gin infused with extra botanicals. I assumed that the extra botanicals would mean extra flavor and I would prefer this, but the truth is, it kind of muddled the flavor I associate with a martini.
Method #2: London Dry Gin
Rating: 5/10
About this method: For this second test in “tier 1,” I followed the same procedure as I had in the first test, mixing a classic martini (2 ounces gin and 1/2 ounce dry vermouth) and pouring it into a chilled glass, but this time with London dry gin instead of new American.
Results: This version of the “classic” martini edged out the version with New American gin because of its clean, sharp flavor. Gin is a very distinct liquor, which can turn some people off. The flavor of juniper is very prominent. It doesn’t disappear into a cocktail like vodka can. That said, for a classic drink like this, there’s a specific clean, straight-ahead flavor that I didn’t even realize I was expecting, and London dry gin delivered. On to tier 2.
Method #3: 50/50 Martini
Rating: 3/10
About this method: For the remainder of my testing I used the winning style of gin from tier 1 (London dry). A 50/50 martini is equal parts gin and vermouth, which I stirred together, poured into a chilled glass, and garnished with olives before tasting.
Results: This was not bad exactly. It was balanced, which I claim to want, but it was almost … too balanced (is such a thing even possible?). The flavors of the vermouth and the gin blended together so perfectly that they seemed to cancel each other out, and I was left drinking some kind of generic clear liquid that brought out the worst of both. Boo.
Method #4: Dry Martini
Rating: 4/10
About this method: To make a dry martini, I stirred together 2 ounces of gin and 1/4 ounce of dry vermouth and garnished with olives in a chilled glass before tasting.
Results: While this was clean and crisp, it was a touch too close to simply drinking a glass of gin for my liking. The vermouth was completely smothered by the powerful flavor of the gin.
Method #5: Wet Martini
Rating: 7/10
About this method: A wet martini ups the ratio of vermouth to gin — 2 ounces of gin to 3/4 ounces of dry vermouth. As with the other tests I stirred the ingredients together before pouring them into a chilled glass and garnishing with olives.
Results: This drink gets high marks for balance. As mentioned above, gin has a very punchy flavor and this is the first mix I tasted where that flavor truly started to harmonize with the vermouth; I felt like I was drinking a well-made cocktail.
Method #6: Dirty Martini
Rating: 10/10
About this method: To make a martini dirty, you add a third ingredient, a little bit — 1/4 ounce in this case — of olive brine to the mix, which then gets stirred in along with 2 ounces of gin and 1/2 ounce of dry vermouth. I stirred this together and served garnished with olives in a chilled glass.
Results: I must confess something here. The martini was the first cocktail I drank when I became old enough to order a drink at a bar. I was a senior in college, and while my compatriots were all ordering microbrews and vodkas with cranberry juice, I thought it would be much better to try a classic cocktail, and for some reason landed on the martini. I would go on to order martinis — basically exclusively — at every bar I went to for years.
With that out of the way I can admit to you that the way I ordered that martini was always the same. After a little fumbling at the beginning as I was getting my cocktail bearings, I landed on “extra dirty, extra dry.” Because I like my cocktails to taste like cocktails, not like syrupy sweet Kool-Aid, or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, a glass of liquor. A good cocktail should taste like something that has been strategically blended and balanced. For a martini to taste that way, it needs more than a whiff of vermouth; it needs the help of its savory, salty friend olive brine. The addition of that third ingredient brings the whole drink into alignment. Sipping this one was like sipping an entirely different drink from the five other martinis I had tasted before it, and quite frankly, this one was superior.
Overall Key Takeaways
The best martini comes down to the details. A good martini is a tightrope walk between contrast and balance. To make a good one, no single element should overwhelm the others. The best martini I tasted managed to highlight the flavors of every element to the point where I could taste each one, yet they remained in total harmony.
Make it your own. In my opinion, the addition of olive brine is what makes a truly great martini, but if you’re not into olives, a wet martini is a great alternative. Try garnishing with a twist of lemon or a cocktail onion instead.
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