The Best American Poetry

More Martinis

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The first Martini I ever drank was strictly medicinal, for threatened seasickness, and in spite of a loyal enjoyment of them which may be increasing in direct ratio to my dwindling selectivity of palate, I must admit that I still find them a sure prop to my flagging spirits, my tired or queasy body, even my over-timid social self. I think I know how many to drink, and when, and where, as well as why; and if I have acted properly and heeded all my physical and mental reactions to them, I have been the winner in many an otherwise lost bout with everything from boredom to plain funk. A well-made Martini or Gibson, correctly chilled and nicely served, has been more often my true friend than any two-legged creature.

-- M. F. K. Fisher, "To the Gibson and Beyond" (The Atlantic, January 1949)

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Remember: the only difference between a Martini and a Gibson is that the former gets an olive or lemon twist, the latter a cocktail onion or two. To make a "dirty" Martini serve with an olive and add a little of the olive juice from the jar. Vodka Martinis are OK, but for the full effect I recommend mixing gin (Hendrick's or Plymouth or Tanqueray or Beefeater) with a tablespoon of dry vermouth (preferably French: Noilly Prat); shake with ice, and serve straight up in frozen Martini glasses. Keep the gin (or vodka) in the freezer.

-- DL

Still Number One: The Martini

[credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner]

". . .if there's a friend tonight with the old predilection, I'll mix up a martini for the two of us, in the way we like it, filling a small glass pitcher with ice cubes that I've cracked into quarters with my little pincers. Don't smash or shatter the ice: it'll become watery in a moment. Put three or four more cracked cubes into our glasses, to begin the chill. Put the gin or the vodka into the pitcher, then wet the neck of the vermouth bottle with a quickly amputated trickle. Stir the martini vigorously but without sloshing. When the side of the pithcer is misted like a January windowpane pour the drink into the glasses. Don't allow any of the ice in the pitcher to join the awaiting, unmelted ice in the glass. (My friend likes his straight up, so I'll throw away the ice in his glass. But I save it in my own, because a martini on the rocks stays cold longer, and I've avoided the warm fourth or fifth sip from the purer potion.) Now stir the drink inside the iced glass, just once around. Squeeze the lemon peel across the surface -- you've already pared it, from a fat, bright new lemon -- and then run the peel, skin-side down, around the rim of the glass before you drop it in. Serve. Smile."

-- Roger Angell, "Dry Martini" (in Let Me Finish, 2006)

Is there a more mythologized drink than the martini? "Shaken, not stirred." Served by FDR to Churchill.  Dry, very dry. With excellent gin you need a minimum of vermouth. (I like Angell's "quickly amputated trickle" above.) With onions it's a gibson. With a lemon twist, as above, or traditional olives, it's a martini.

I like it made with gin, straight up, dry, very cold, and shaken. Served in the right glass, "the narcissus stalk rising to a 1939 World's Fair triangle above" (Angell). Recommended gins include Hendrick's and Citadel (both on the herbal side), Miller's, Plymouth. Broker's, Tanqueray, Beefeater, Boodles, Bombay. Keep the gin [or vodka] in the freezer.

--DL