page_title: Martini (cocktail)
section_title: Preparation
hierarchical_section_title: Martini (cocktail) / Preparation
caption_attribution_description: The base is a piece of black opaque glass. Underneath the glass is a Bowens ProLite 60 monolight at about 1/2 power shooting back against a piece of white foam core about 1 ft. away. Above is a Nikon SB-800 at 1/64 throwing some light on the olives. Two black foam core gobos on the left and right for a little extra black in the glass. Thanks for the nice words all. I'm loving this lighting stuff.
context_page_description: The martini is a cocktail made with gin and vermouth, and garnished with an olive or a lemon twist. Over the years, the martini has become one of the best-known mixed alcoholic beverages.
  H. L. Mencken called the martini "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet", and E. B. White called it "the elixir of quietude".
context_section_description: By 1922 the martini reached its most recognizable form in which London dry gin and dry vermouth are combined at a ratio of 2:1, stirred in a mixing glass with ice cubes, with the optional addition of orange or aromatic bitters, then strained into a chilled cocktail glass. Over time the generally expected garnish became the drinker's choice of a green olive or a twist of lemon peel.
  A dry martini is made with dry, white vermouth. By the Roaring Twenties, it became a common drink order. Over the course of the 20th century, the amount of vermouth steadily dropped. During the 1930s the ratio was 3:1 (gin to vermouth), and during the 1940s the ratio was 4:1. During the latter part of the 20th century, 6:1, 8:1, 12:1, 15:1 (the "Montgomery", after British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's supposed penchant for attacking only when in possession of great numerical superiority), or even 50:1 or 100:1 Martinis became considered the norm.
  A wet martini contains more vermouth; a 50-50 martini uses equal amounts of gin and vermouth. An upside-down or reverse martini has more vermouth than gin.
  A dirty martini contains a splash of olive brine or olive juice and is typically garnished with an olive.
  A perfect martini uses equal amounts of sweet and dry vermouth.
  Some martinis were prepared by filling a cocktail glass with gin, then rubbing a finger of vermouth along the rim. There are those who advocated the elimination of vermouth altogether. According to Noël Coward, "A perfect martini should be made by filling a glass with gin, then waving it in the general direction of Italy", Italy being a major producer of vermouth. Luis Buñuel used the dry martini as part of his creative process, regularly using it to sustain "a reverie in a bar". He offers his own recipe, involving Angostura bitters, in his memoir.
  In 1966, the American Standards Association (ASA) released K100.1-1966, "Safety Code and Requirements for Dry Martinis", a tongue-in-cheek account of how to make a "standard" dry martini. The latest revision of this document, K100.1-1974, was published by American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the successor to ASA, though it is no longer an active standard.
caption: Three martinis with olives as a garnish
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