Drinks
A Very Cold Martini
Temperature is the whole recipe. Everything else is preference and most of it is other people's.
Prep
3 min
Cook
0 min
Serves
1
Level
Easy
Ingredients
75ml — gin, from the freezer
15ml — dry vermouth (keep it in the fridge; it is wine)
a lot of hard, dry ice
1 — lemon twist, or an olive, not both
I spent years thinking a martini was a ratio problem. It is a temperature problem. A mediocre gin served at minus eighteen beats a great one served cool, every time.
So the actual recipe is: keep the bottle in the freezer, keep the glasses in the freezer, and stir it for longer than feels reasonable.
Method
Put the glass in the freezer at least twenty minutes before you want the drink. This is not optional and it is the step people skip.
Fill a mixing glass with ice and add the vermouth and gin.
Stir for thirty seconds. Longer than you think. You are chilling and diluting at the same time, and the dilution is part of the drink rather than a compromise.
Strain into the frozen glass.
Express a lemon twist over the surface — squeeze it skin-out so the oil sprays across the top — then drop it in, or add an olive. One or the other.
A note
Vermouth is wine. It oxidises. The bottle that has been in your cupboard since last winter is the reason your martinis taste dusty.
Good to know
More About This Recipe
Nutrition
Calories
170 kcal
Protein
0g
Carbs
1g
Fat
0g
Tips & tricks
Freeze the gin, not just the glass — a bottle at room temperature can’t get the drink cold enough on its own, no matter how long you stir.
Stir, don’t shake. Shaking beats air into the drink and clouds it, and a martini should be clear.
Taste the vermouth on its own before you use it. If it tastes flat or sherry-like rather than bright, it’s oxidised — replace the bottle.
Substitutions
Dry vermouth
A dash of orange bitters instead, if you're out — a different drink, still a good one.
Gin
Vodka, if that's the house preference; the method doesn't change.
Pairs well with
Cold and dry enough to cut straight through the mozzarella and prosciutto.
Storage & leftovers
Doesn't keep — a stirred martini is at its best in the first two minutes, before the ice has diluted it further. If you want two, stir two.
Questions people ask
Gin or vodka?
How dry should it be?
Do I really need a frozen glass?
Postcards from my kitchen
Made this one?
Tell me how it went, or what you did differently. The best changes to these recipes have come from readers.