🍸 How to properly order a Martini

Dry. Extra dry. Wet. Perfect. Shaken. Stirred. Dirty. Twist. Up. Rocks. These terms, and a few others, all come into play when ordering a martini at a bar. As a bartender, if you come to me and say “I’ll have a martini” but provide no further information, I’m going to slow blink at you a couple of times and then ask you a list of questions. How you answer those questions is going to determine the profile of the drink I serve you. 

First, let’s start with the base spirits. Martinis are going to be vodka or gin-period. Also, just because a cocktail is served up (not with ice) does not automatically make it a martini, even if it is referred to as such (looking at you, social media drink trends *eye roll emoji). But I digress. Vodka or gin. Next comes your vermouth, and your choice of word here determines the amount of vermouth in your cocktail. Wet means it will have more vermouth, dry means it will have less, extra dry means it will have little to no vermouth or perhaps just a vermouth rinse of the glass. Perfect means it will have equal parts of sweet and dry vermouth. Shaken or stirred is obviously how you want your drink prepared. Shaken means more ice dilution and stirred means less ice dilution. Your choice here determines how concentrated you want your drink to be. Up means it gets strained into a martini or coupe glass without ice and on the rocks means it gets strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass. Dirty is the inclusion of olive brine and usually gets garnished with olives. A twist is a garnish of citrus peel that gets expressed (squeezed) over the drink and then dropped in. 

The easiest way for your bartender to ensure your martini is correct is for you to give clear, specific instructions for how you want it. Some examples would sound like 

-“I’d like a dirty Tito’s martini, shaken and up with olives please.”

-“I’d like a Beefeater martini, dry,  stirred and up with olives please.”

-“Can I get a Hendricks martini, extra dry, shaken and up with a lime twist please?”

-“I’d like a wet Grey Goose martini, stirred on the rocks please.”

-”Can I get a Gunpowder gin martini, perfect, up with a lemon twist please?”

And so on and so forth. Don’t forget the please though-manners matter. 

My preferred martini to order or to make for myself is pretty simple, but delicious none the less. It’s a 3:1 gin to vermouth ratio and creates a cocktail that is equal parts refreshing and powerful. 

2 oz. gin (I like Gin Mare or Hendricks, but use what you like)

.5 oz. dry vermouth 

Stirred and served up with a lime twist. 

As always, if you have questions, comments, recommendations, or need help finding your perfect martini, send me an email at [email protected] and I will be happy to help. Have a wonderful weekend, enjoy the break from the heat, and I will chat with you next week-cheers! 

Introducing Haley’s Home Bar

Hey Sippers! You might notice that this post looks a little different this week, and that’s because I have news! Along with recently going full time as a Product Specialist at the Spirit Shop, I am also launching Haley’s Home Bar!

Haley’s Home Bar is a space designed for helping you learn how to create delicious craft cocktails from the comfort of your own home. As you all know by now, a huge part of my platform is teaching thoughtful, respectful, and responsible enjoyment, and HHB is just another place for me to do that. I believe that craft experiences don’t have to be a fancy night out but can instead be something you can enjoy whenever you want. I also believe that thoughtful enjoyment is key to achieving that luxurious feeling that a perfectly crafted experience can bring. Tips, tricks, tool recommendations, pairing suggestions, recipes and more are all “on the bar cart” for you to explore and enjoy at your leisure, and I will continue to provide you with my weekly features and suggestions here as well.

Now, I will still be doing features here every week, but instead of it being all wine, I am also going to start incorporating spirits and cocktails into these posts as well. I invite you all to follow along on Facebook and Instagram at Haley’s Home Bar and be on the lookout for haleyshomebar.com as well.

Going forward, that will be where you can find archives of information including my posts here at the Torch, search for recipes both classic and modern, and see what’s pouring. As always, if you have any questions or comments or need recommendations, shoot me an email at [email protected] and I will be happy to help. Your barstool is always open-cheers!