Drinks

Classic Martini

Less is more when it comes to the timeless gin cocktail.

  • Serves

    2

  • Cook

    5 minutes

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING BY JESSIE YUCHEN; NICK & NORA BY GLASVIN

By SAVEUR Editors


Updated on November 26, 2023

Legend has it that when news arrived in Paris that Germany had lost the Second World War, Ernest Hemingway “liberated” the bar at L'Hotel Ritz and bought martinis for everybody. (That lounge is still called Bar Hemingway in his honor.) Times may have changed, but the classic martini never gets old: dry gin, a splash of vermouth, briny olives, and patient stirring (not shaking). 

This recipe was featured in Gaston Pinard's 1995 story, "King Gin."

Ingredients

  • 5 oz. dry gin
  • 1 oz. dry vermouth
  • Large pitted green olives

Instructions

Step 1

In a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice, gently stir the gin and vermouth until ice cold, 20–30 seconds. Strain into two chilled martini glasses. Garnish each cocktail with olives and serve immediately.

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