Happy Saturday, and happy 30th birthday to me!! Today we're celebrating with a cocktail recipe - I have become quite the fan of dirty martinis in recent years, so in honor of my "dirty thirty" I thought it wold be fitting to share *my* version of a perfect martini. Martini preferences are very personal, every martini drinker has their own perfect ratio of gin or vodka to vermouth to olive brine, so today I'm sharing what my personal poison is.
Martini Essentials:
Before getting into the nitty gritty of my perfect martini, I thought I'd highlight a few of my bar essentials that contribute to the perfect cocktail:
Cocktail shaker: This is my ideal cocktail shaker! It's insulated, the lid and cap screw on and have rubber seals, and the cap doubles as a 1oz measure.
Martini glasses: I am a glassware snob and Riedel is pretty much the best of the best. I love giving Riedel as a wedding gift, and their martini glasses are razor thin and ultra luxe.
Coupe glasses: One of Kenny's and my favorite restaurants uses these coupe glasses. They don't have the super-thin edge that I typically prefer in glassware, but the shape helps keep you from spilling a drop, and the stems are art-deco beautiful. Plus they're less than $5 apiece, so they're cheap to stock up on and you won't die if you break one (which I have...)
Skull skewers: I love all things skull-related, it adds a touch of edge to my otherwise girly presentation, ha! I love using gold skull skewers to garnish cocktails year-round, not just at Halloween.
Laura's Perfect Dirty Martini
- 3oz gin (I usually prefer Tanqueray or Hendricks - NEVER Bombay Sapphire)
- 0.5-1 oz olive brine, depending on how salty it is
- Extra dry vermouth
- 2-3 olives to garnish
Directions:
- In a cocktail shaker, add the gin, olive brine, and ice. Shake as if your life depends on it! Martinis are traditionally supposed to be stirred, but personally I've GOTTA have it shaken!.
- In your CHILLED martini glass (this is important - just stick it in the freezer for a while!), add a teaspoon or two of vermouth (eyeball it - we'll be dumping most of that ish out). Swirl and turn your glass around until the vermouth has coated the entire inside of the glass, and dump the remaining vermouth out. This is called a "vermouth rinse" - I like very little vermouth in my martinis! That is why do not add it to the cocktail shaker. When I'm ordering at a restaurant, I will ask for just a tiny bit of vermouth, or sometimes I will ask them to omit it completely.
- Strain the contents of the cocktail shaker into the vermouth rinsed glass. No need to double strain - I enjoy the little shards of ice that come from shaking your martini. "Proper" bartenders will strain the ice out but I like to have it.
- Add your olive garnish. As many olives as you want! I like large Manzanilla or high-quality Castelvetrano. Stuffed ones are fun too! I don't really discriminate when it comes to olives, as long as they're not mushy!
I hope you have an amazing weekend! I surprisingly don't have any set plans - Kenny's cooking something up with a few of my friends who are coming into town, but I haven't wanted to overthink any plans so I'm kind of leaving things up to him and my mom. I think we're going to hit a winery or two and have dinner, I love just hanging out so a relaxing day like that sounds perfect! My brother is out of state for work (sad!) so I told him we have to re-celebrate once he's home, so I have that to look forward to as well! I'll let you know next week what we end up getting into, talk to you then!
xoxx, Laura
No comments