Classic Martinis Recipes

Steps:

• Shake the olive brine extra cold with large ice in a cocktail shaker. In a chilled Nick and Nora glass, drop in a dash of vermouth and coat the inside of the glass to season it. Strain the olive brine into the glass. Fill with frozen gin of choice. Add 1 olive on a crystal pick and serve.

Steps:

• Shake or stir 1/2 cup vodka or gin and 1 1/2 teaspoons vermouth in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with olives, caper berries, or onions. Repeat with remaining vodka or gin and vermouth.

Steps:

• Pour ice, vodka and vermouth into a glass shaker. Shake and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with olives or lemon twist.

Steps:

• Nice Ice, Baby:
• Hold a large ice cube in the center of your palm. Use the back of a bar spoon (really, any spoon will work) to crack it into smaller jagged pieces. Transfer ice to a mixing glass and repeat until you've got enough cracked ice to fill glass.
• A Smooth Mix:
• Add gin and vermouth (it doesn't matter what order). Just like in cooking, you should taste your ingredients separately and try to pair them thoughtfully (see chart at right for other Saunders pairings).
• It's All in the Wrist:
• Bond was wrong. Shaking breaks up the ice, which leads to overdiluted martinis. Some dilution is good; it softens the spirits so you can taste the botanicals, not just the heat of the alcohol. Rapidly stir 50 times- count to 50, for real!-in a circular motion; the outside of the glass will be very cold and frosty.
• No Strain, No Gain:
• Using a Hawthorne strainer, which fits snugly over the top of a mixing glass, or a slotted spoon (in a pinch), strain martini into a chilled Nick and Nora glass. Strain any remaining martini into a "sidecar" (use a minicarafe- on ice, of course), possibly the greatest drinking add-on ever invented.

Steps:

• First inspect your martini glass for cleanliness
• Then, fill the glass with ice and water.
• Next grab your cocktail shaker and fill it with ice and the appropriate alcohol. Shake the alcohol to properly chill it. (No more than 30 seconds, as the alcohol will dilute in the ice and lose its integrity.) Use lots of flair! Make your martinis memorable even if it is just Friday evening at home.
• Then dump out the water and ice from the glass.
• Next pour dry vermouth around the top edge of the glass, holding your finger over the air spout. (This controls the pour.)
• Then swirl the glass to make sure the vermouth has fully coated the inner surface of the glass.
• Next dump the vermouth into the sink, and strain in the chilled liquor.
• Finally, add the olive (or if they are small, several). I think it is always best to spear the olives with a cocktail pick of some sort, otherwise you will find your guests unseemly digging their fingers into their martini in order to retrieve the delectable olive. If you want a dirty martini add some olive juice.

Steps:

• Stir ingredients over ice until exceedingly well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Steps:

• Stir the gin or vodka, dry vermouth and a little ice together or put them in a cocktail shaker to combine.
• Strain into a chilled martini glass. Serve with an olive on a cocktail stick or a twist of lemon peel.

Steps:

• In mixing glass or cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine gin and vermouth. Stir well, about 30 seconds, then strain into martini glass. Garnish with olive or lemon twist and serve.