The Martini ritual

“Shaken, not stirred”. This is the famous line that Ian Flaming makes James Bond utter in the novel A Waterfall of Diamonds: thanks to the most famous British spy of all time Martini has become immortal, but the history of this drink and its worldwide success is all Italian.

The company called ‘Martini, Sola e C.ia’ was officially founded in Turin in 1863, although the original core of the enterprise had already been established as far back as 1847.

The year 1864 was the one in which the first bottle of Martini officially took shape and, since then, its rise to the Olympus of consumers’ favourite alcoholic beverages has never stopped. This is also thanks to its incredible versatility. Martini is, indeed, a sartorial cocktail, one that is truly tailored to the tastes of every customer. 

Dry or soft?

And this is the first of the differences: with more gin, the drink will be drier, whereas a softer cocktail calls for an increase in the amount of vermouth. A somewhat extreme example is the Montgomery Martini, invented by Hemingway in honour of the British general, for which the ratio of vermouth to gin is said to be 1 to 15, the same proportion with which the famous general suggested fighting in the World War II (1 of his soldiers against 15 enemies).

By contrast, the Martini In&Out recipe calls for the cup to be only ‘dirtied’ with vermouth, which is then removed and served in a separate glass for optimal service.

And what about that olive? And the lemon?

Usually, with a very dry Martini it is good to add lemon, while for a particularly soft one an olive would be perfect. But if you want both, you can serve them separately, on a small plate, to have as much freedom to choose there and then to suit your taste.

The perfect glass

An ice-cold cocktail glass is definitely the perfect way to enjoy a Martini. This is filled only at the end, after mixing the elements in a classic mixing glass, but please note: many prefer to keep the bottle of gin in the freezer, to serve it as ice-cold as possible, but this means that there will be little dilution of the ice in the mixing glass and the drink will be stronger.