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The Martini is the most argued-about cocktail in human history. Two ingredients. Gin or vodka. Dry vermouth. Stir, strain, serve. And yet entire books have been written about the precise ratio, the temperature, the dryness, the shape of the glass, the type of garnish, and whether James Bond was a moron for ordering his shaken (he was; shaking a Martini bruises the gin and aerates the vermouth).

The 5:1 ratio is the modern standard. Two and a half ounces of gin, half an ounce of dry vermouth. Cold enough that there is a thin layer of ice crystals on top when you pour. Garnish with a lemon twist for clean, or an olive for savoury. Pick one. Never both.

The drink survived Prohibition because it could be made with the worst gin in the world (and was) and still tasted like a cocktail. It survived the 1990s vodka revolution because real bartenders kept making them with gin. It survives now because once you find a Martini you actually like, no other cocktail quite hits the same way.

Hemingway drank his at 15:1, almost no vermouth at all. Churchill allegedly drank his by glancing at the vermouth bottle from across the room while pouring gin. Dorothy Parker said ‘I like a Martini, two at the most. Three I am under the table, four I am under my host.’ All of these people knew what they were doing. None of them ordered the drink shaken.

Classic Martini

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Gin and dry vermouth, stirred with ice, strained into a chilled glass, finished with a lemon twist or olive. The cocktail that defines all other cocktails.
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Prep Time 3 minutes
Total Time 3 minutes
Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients
 

  • 2.5 oz Gin (or vodka) London Dry gin traditionally
  • 1/2 oz Dry vermouth
  • 1 Lemon twist or olive to garnish

Instructions
 

Stir:
  1. Fill a mixing glass with ice. Add gin and dry vermouth.
  2. Stir with a bar spoon for 30 seconds. Long enough that the outside of the mixing glass is cold to the touch.
Strain and garnish:
  1. Strain into a chilled martini glass or coupe.
  2. Express a lemon twist over the glass and drop it in, OR drop in a single quality olive on a pick.

Nutrition

Calories: 140kcalCarbohydrates: 0.2gProtein: 0.1gSodium: 0.01mg

Notes

The dryness debate is bigger than the recipe. 5:1 (this version) is standard. 10:1 is very dry. 20:1 is comically dry. Some bartenders just rinse the glass with vermouth and pour gin on top. All defensible.
Vodka or gin: gin is the original and the more interesting drink. Vodka is what Bond ordered (shaken, which is incorrect) and what the 1990s drank. Both are valid; gin is canonical.
Olive or twist: olive for savoury, twist for clean. Pick one. Never both.
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 140

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Tips That Actually Matter

  • Stir, do not shake. Shaking a Martini aerates it and bruises the gin. The texture is wrong. Stir for 30 seconds. Bond was a fictional spy, not a bartender.
  • Freeze the glass. Five minutes minimum. Ten is better. The glass should be cold enough to frost when you pour.
  • Quality gin. Two ingredients means each one matters. Tanqueray, Beefeater, Plymouth, Sipsmith — all excellent. Avoid the cheap supermarket bottles for this drink.

I’m Scotty Boxa. Australian author, professional bad decision maker, and the bloke responsible for the rest of this website.

If this recipe made you laugh, you’ll like the rest of what I do. I write books that are mostly true stories about cocktails, travel, and the disasters that come with both. If you want a starter pack, grab the free PDF below. No email required, just take it.