Dry Vermouth

The perfect martini is by far my favorite cocktail.  I crave it around 5pm every Friday and avoid bars because I dare not try their rendition.

Vermouth lost popularity sometime in the past century (Will could tell you more about that), and the martini is a drink that has really suffered as a result. Nowadays people make it with just a wash of vermouth and rarely include bitters.  You wind up with a chilled glass of gin (or vodka).  That’s not a cocktail.  That’s a gin (or vodka) on the rocks.

Traditional martinis, on the other hand, contain:

• 1 1/2 ounce gin
• 1/2 ounce either sweet (for a Sweet Martini) or dry (for a Dry Martini) vermouth
• 1 liberal dash of orange bitters

Stir all the ingredients over ice till chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish the sweet martini with a brandied cherry or a twist of orange and the dry martini with a cocktail onion or olive.

While I enjoy both the sweet and dry martinis, the perfect martini is my favorite. Made with both sweet and dry vermouth, the perfect martini is a little sweet but has the savory tastes of the gin and dry vermouth.

The Perfect Martini

• 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
• 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
• 1 1/2 ounces gin
• 1 liberal dash of orange bitters

Stir all the ingredients over ice till chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass. The perfect martini steals its garnish from the sweet martini so top it with a brandied cherry or a twist of orange and enjoy!

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