Martini cocktail

The martini is a cocktail made with gin and vermouth. Over the years, the martini has become somewhat of an icon. H. L. Mencken once called the martini "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet"; E. B. White called it "the elixir of quietude."

Related Topics:
Cocktail - Gin - Vermouth - H. L. Mencken - E. B. White

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While variations are legion, a standard modern martini is made by combining approximately two and a half ounces of gin and one half ounce of dry vermouth with ice in a cocktail shaker or mixing glass. The ingredients are chilled, either by stirring or shaking, then strained and served "straight up" (without ice) in a chilled cocktail glass, and garnished with either an olive or a twist (a strip of lemon peel, usually squeezed or twisted to express volatile citric oils onto the surface of the drink). Capers or cocktail onions are sometimes used as substitute garnishes. An onion-garnished martini is properly known as a Gibson.

Related Topics:
Gin - Vermouth - Ice - Cocktail shaker - Cocktail glass - Olive - Lemon - Caper - Onion

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Another common but controversial variation is the vodka martini, which is prepared in exactly the same way as a standard martini, with vodka being substituted for gin as the base spirit. In the 1990s, the vodka martini supplanted the traditional gin-based martini in popularity. Today, when bar and restaurant customers order "a martini," they frequently have in mind a drink made with vodka. Martini purists decry this development: while few object to the drink itself, they strenuously object to it being called "a martini." The martini, they insist, is a gin-based cocktail; this variation should be designated as such, with the name "vodka martini" (it may also be called a "vodkatini" or a "kangaroo").

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