How to make a classic gin martini (video)

What is the secret to creating the perfect classic gin martini? According to Jim Meehan, modern mixologist at Speakeasy Cocktails, "The martini cocktail, more than any other cocktail, when someone orders this ... they want it cold." He advises storing martini glasses in the freezer and using an iced mixing glass (or shaker) with refrigerated olives and lemon.

The alcohol, however, should not be chilled. "Cocktail recipes are written with the understanding that when you shake or stir you are adding [a certain amount of] water to the drink," Meehan writes in a Food & Wine article. If the alcohol is the same temperature as the ice it's mixed with, the ice won't melt as quickly as it should, and there won't be enough water in the drink.

With that simple rule in mind, a gin martini is simple to make. Watch Meehan in the video below for full guided instructions in how to make the perfect classic gin martini at home.

Ingredients
2.25 ounces (66.5 milliliters) gin
0.75 ounce (22.2 milliliters) dry vermouth
Cocktail olives on garnish stick
Lemon peel — use cheese slicer for wide ribbon

Directions
1. Pour gin and vermouth into a chilled mixing glass or shaker. Top off with ice and stir for 10 to 15 seconds — long enough for the ice to begin melting and chill the alcohol.
2. Pour the liquid through a strainer into a chilled martini glass until the glass is nearly full.
3. Place a stick of olives across the martini glass, leaving plenty of room for the recipient to sip the drink without disturbing olives.
4. Squeeze the lemon peel above the olives to impart just a hint of citrus. Serve immediately.

When you've perfected the classic, try a simple variation of the gin martini from Gin Foundry:

Dry/wet martini: Decreasing the amount of vermouth creates a "dry" martini; increasing it creates a "wet" one.

Gibson martini: Usually a dry martini, garnished with pickled onions instead of olives or lemon.

Sweet martini: Use sweet vermouth instead of dry.​