Bartending 101-How to make the best/perfect martini

I was eager to write this article due to the fact that I read an article a year ago entitled, “How to make the best martini”, written by a pastry chef I suppose, but the whole article was presented by a barista, who is a brother in the beverage industry but specializes in coffee concoctions.

Well, the article was very misleading because the title asks how to make the BEST martini. But it was answered by showing the concoction of a PERFECT martini. These are two different topics. So the article was a bit useless but it wasn’t surprising for it wasn’t done by a professional bartender which is supposed to be the master mixologist.

Okay, now let’s try to answer the topic on hand. How to make the BEST martini?

To answer this question, I have made a research on my own and I would rather have you read through the following articles:

• How to Make the Perfect Martini by the Art of Manliness
  
• Wikipedia's entry on martini
  
• Martini Making by Kris and Howard Case
  
• Mix the Perfect Martini from AskMen.com
  

Based on these articles, one must know first the right ingredients to a martini. For the “purists,” gin is the base for this cocktail, nothing more, nothing less. Vodka just got into the picture because of that famous agent named James Bond. When talking about gin, since this is a pure cocktail, choosing the right brand is also critical. If your budget agrees, go for the premium if not ultra premium brand.

Same goes with the dry vermouth. There are I think 3 famous vermouth makers: Martini & Rossi, Noilly Prat, and Gancia.

As for the garnish, the olive can either be pitted or non pitted. I would prefer mine with blue cheese…real tasty. As for the glass it has to be chilled. And for the procedure, for the “classic dry martini, we “stir and strain” not “shaken” as James Bond would prefer it. Oh, and since when making a martini it would be usually gin and just a dash of vermouth, make sure you do not fill up to the rim since it will not look “classy."

For the perfect martini cocktail, it is simply just gin with equal parts of sweet and dry vermouth. There is even a 50/50 martini with equal parts of gin and dry vermouth.
Moving fast forward, ever since James Bond, the martini has evolved. From gin to vodka, from pure to flavored bases like apple, orange, banana, chocolate, etc . And now well people have infuse the cocktail with the glass as some martinis are called as such since they are placed in the martini glass.

To answer the question, how to make a perfect martini…I would have to say “how to make a perfect cocktail?" It would have to have a balanced taste. And the trade secret of achieving that is knowing the size of the glass. If you know the size you know how to put the ingredients equally and apply it not only to one but to as many orders and still achieve a CONSISTENT taste.