The martini is a cocktail made with gin and vermouth, and garnished with an olive or a lemon twist. Over the years, the martini has become one of the best-known mixed alcoholic beverages.
A vodka martini (vodkatini or Kangaroo) is a cocktail made with vodka and vermouth, a variation of a Martini.
Preparation
Pouring all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice cubes, the ingredients are mixed then strained and served “straight up” (without ice) in a chilled cocktail glass and garnished with either a green olive or a twist of lemon (a strip of the peel, usually squeezed or twisted to express volatile oils onto the surface of the drink).
Although there are many variations, in modern practice the standard martini is a mix of gin coupled with dry vermouth (fortified wine flavored with various dry ingredients) usually in a five-to-one ratio. Shaker mixing is common due to influences of popular culture, notably the fictional spy James Bond, who sometimes asked for his vodka martini to be “shaken, not stirred”. Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) prescribes stirring for all its martini recipes.
The martini was originally made with sweet vermouth. A person who wanted a ‘dry martini’ asked for one made with white vermouth. Until World War II the standard proportion was 1 part vermouth to 3 to 3 1/2 parts gin. These days the dryness of a martini refers to the amount of vermouth used in the drink, with a very dry martini having little or no Vermouth. Conversely, a wet martini has a significant amount of vermouth added.
The exact origin of the martini is unclear. Numerous cocktails with names and ingredients similar to the modern-day martini were first seen in bartending guides of the late 19th century. One popular theory suggests it evolved from a cocktail called the Martinez (sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, Angostura bitters) in the early 1860s, which people frequented before taking an evening ferry to the nearby town of Martinez.
