Gin or vodka and dry vermouth are the basic ingredients of a martini, but what happens if you get 11 different bartenders to make their version of the same cocktail? Shaken or stirred, dirty or dry–from the luxury of the Plaza Hotel to home mixologists, see how these bartenders put their own spin on the classic martini.
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00:00So the thing about a martini is that we've gotten to the point you could have so many
00:20different varieties and I don't disagree with all of them but if everything's a martini
00:24nothing is.
00:25A lychee martini, a dirty martini, an espresso martini.
00:28So we're going to bring it back to the basics.
00:29My definition on this is going to be gin, it's going to be dry vermouth, and it's going
00:33to be a garnish at the end.
00:34There are so many ways to do it.
00:36Some people like them dirty, 50-50, really really dry, it can go the entire spectrum.
00:41However, when you've only gotten martini, make it now, there is a way that I do it.
00:46Two things really, dry vermouth here, monkey 47 here.
00:49How much of each do you put in?
00:50I find people like more of 5 to 1.
00:53Two and a half ounces of the gin and a half ounce of the dry vermouth.
00:57So 5 to 1 I find is beautifully perfect in its balance where it's not too dry and it's
01:03not too wet.
01:04If somebody says I want a dry martini, oddly enough that means less dry vermouth.
01:08I don't know, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing in society, who knows.
01:11What is the key to a perfect martini at the start?
01:14Cold.
01:15It is an up cocktail.
01:16There's no ice sitting in the glass.
01:17This should not be shaken.
01:19If you shake, you are changing the character of the drink.
01:22You can bruise the juniper and you can give cloudiness to a cocktail that's supposed to
01:26be clear.
01:27I love you Bond.
01:28Love ya.
01:29Let's stir.
01:30That's not shake.
01:31You're going to use a spoon.
01:32The idea is to actually cup in the ice like this.
01:34The other idea is to not move your wrist at all.
01:37You don't want to do like a cauldron like this.
01:39You want to get that beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful motion where
01:42it's hooking the ice in.
01:43We're not going for over dilution.
01:44That's why we stir.
01:45If we want it to be over diluted, we would shake.
01:48We're just trying to get it just cold enough.
01:51So it's not necessary to chill all your cocktail glasses for cocktails, but if you're going
01:55to do it for one, a martini is it.
01:57People want to know that it's cold.
01:59Boom.
02:00Straight out of being chilled.
02:01Right here.
02:02Then when it becomes time to pour, a secret taught to me is that you should fill it with
02:04more ice.
02:05That's going to be the final burst of coldness that this cocktail that's supposed to be cold
02:09is going to get before it goes into this glass.
02:11So a martini by classic definition has two choices in garnish.
02:15Olives, which we always use for a dirty martini, and a lemon twist.
02:18They're not just there to look pretty.
02:21The point is to get these essential oils off of this twist and into this drink so that
02:25little citrus burst happens.
02:26That's going to add flavor to your cocktail.
02:28Cold, clear, and perfectly diluted.
02:31And that is what we feel we get with this concoction.
02:33All right, so I work at the Bush.
02:36We are a lesbian bar in Bushwick.
02:38We do not cut off cocktails at any time.
02:42Our one boundary is that we don't do egg white cocktails after 11 p.m., and I'm very grateful
02:47for that one boundary.
02:48You want a martini to be freezing cold, and if it's anything less than freezing cold,
02:52it sucks.
02:53First, I'm going to chill the glass with ice and water while I make the drink, and I'm
02:58going to put a little bit of dry vermouth, and I'm going to put a shit ton of vodka.
03:02A crap ton.
03:040.5 of the dry vermouth and about 2 1⁄2, 3 ounces.
03:09I tend to go 3 ounces on the vodka.
03:13It's not too dry.
03:14An extra dry martini is essentially a chilled shot in a martini glass.
03:17We still have the vermouth.
03:18We're still tasting the vermouth.
03:20Now I'm going to shake it.
03:23I personally like a vodka martini shaken to death.
03:30Looks great.
03:31I'm going to dump this, and you want to finish that with a lemon twist right around the rim.
03:38Pop it in.
03:39Cheers.
03:40Our bar is called Martini's, so that's why people a lot of order martini's.
03:46For me, a gin martini is the best cocktail in the world, also the king of cocktails in
03:51the world.
03:52Very simple, but that's why it's very difficult to make.
03:55So first, I'll prepare the garnish.
03:58Lemon peel is very, very important.
04:00Cut the white part off.
04:02Too much bitterness makes it beautiful.
04:06Big chunk ice on the bottom and small chunk ice on the top.
04:11Chill the mixing glass.
04:13So let's make it.
04:16Not too botanical, not too citrus.
04:18It's very neutral.
04:19Anticatorino.
04:20I'm using the 61 gin and vermouth.
04:26Very gentle, no bubbles.
04:28When you make bubbles, that means you make an aeration.
04:32I took three years to make a perfect martini, and still I'm practicing.
04:40I have to stir a very long time.
04:42There is a kind of glue to become martini.
04:56This is a perfect, clear, clean texture martini.
05:00Always olive on the side, and also it's a little bit far from martini.
05:04I'm going to put lemon oil, just the aroma.
05:08I'm always recommend to customers, focus on the flavor, and also kiss the glass for the
05:14first sip.
05:15When you grab it, your hand is always shaking.
05:18I don't want you to miss the first sip.
05:20I take a culinary approach to cocktails.
05:22When working with different chefs in different restaurants, the chef that I work with, he
05:26really wanted an MSG cocktail.
05:29My immediate thought was, let's do a savory martini with that.
05:32People love their dirty martinis, so we're going to use a half ounce of the drinking
05:36grade Shaoxing wine in place of our vermouth.
05:38This resembles an overly oxidized Oloroso sherry.
05:42In place of a regular olive brine, we're going to do an MSG olive brine.
05:46We do about a 2% solution of MSG in there.
05:51Then the gin, two ounces per cocktail for this one.
05:55I crack one cube just to get the dilution going, so I'm just going to do this the European
06:00way.
06:01Do you guys notice that?
06:02Whenever you go to Spain or something, all the bartenders, no matter what, they use tongs
06:07and do each ice cube individually, no matter what.
06:09It's crazy.
06:10Stir, stir, stir, stir, stir.
06:11And then there you have it, your MSG martinis.
06:19The very first printing, I believe, of a martini in a cocktail book called for two parts gin,
06:26one part fortified wine, and two dashes of orange bitters.
06:29And that was like back in the early 1900s.
06:33Our visitors are international, so we like to make everything in a classic way.
06:37I use Monkey 47 gin because it has really nice aromatics in it.
06:41Gin has a lot of flavor to it, and vodka just doesn't.
06:44Three ounces of gin here.
06:47It's a really strong cocktail because it's a martini.
06:49This is a Cochi Americano.
06:51It's an Italian vermouth.
06:52It adds a little bit of sweetness.
06:54Now, between bartenders, there's a lot of people that will say that Cochi is not a vermouth,
06:59that is a fortified wine.
07:00Bartenders all over the world use it as a vermouth, and we continue to use it as a vermouth
07:05at the Plaza.
07:06But you can't put too much, which is why I go ahead and add a little bit of the Noli
07:09Prat, a traditional French-dried vermouth.
07:12We use really nice big ice cubes here at the Plaza Hotel, and then always with the two
07:17dashes of the orange bitters.
07:19Like salt and pepper, it just enhances the flavor of the spirit.
07:23You're supposed to stir a martini 25 turns, but I never measure.
07:29I'm going to garnish this with a cocktail onion, which I make myself.
07:32When you put an onion in a martini, it's called a Gibson martini.
07:36This is a classic cocktail.
07:37Everyone should taste one in their lifetime.
07:39My bar is Paradise Lost, and we specialize in modern tropical cocktails.
07:42Basically, a new nomenclature for what we used to formally call tiki cocktails, vibey,
07:47really fun and exotic flavors and drinks.
07:49Instead of orange bitters, we're going to be using Orgeat.
07:52Orgeat is an almond-based syrup that gives it a really nice nuttiness.
07:56Next, one teaspoon of plantain eau de vie.
07:58It's giving it an earthiness, as well as an interesting density to play off of the orange
08:02rub.
08:03Next up, a little bit of Okakura vermouth.
08:06You have more delicate aromatics in comparison to your traditional dry vermouth.
08:10We're going to be changing up the traditional recipe and using actually a split base.
08:14We're going to substitute a little bit of that gin for a little bit of rum.
08:17We're using coconut and pistachio oil fat-washed Eldorado three-year.
08:21This is going to give it a really beautiful nuttiness, texture, and slightly more body.
08:26Fat-washing infuses different types of fats, whether it's oils or solids like butter, into
08:31its spirit.
08:32Next up, we're going to our gin.
08:33This is going to be some macho-infused Roku Japanese gin.
08:37Over at our tiki bar, we mainly use pebble ice, which is going to be smaller pieces of
08:41ice that really help with our dilution of most drinks.
08:44Unfortunately, that means that we don't have regular cube ice, so we usually use these
08:48larger cubes in place of any other shaking cubes that we would use.
08:55Over at Paradise Lost, we actually pre-batch this entire martini and serve it inside a
09:00little vial so you can pour as much or as little out as you'd like.
09:03Make it a little bit more playful, as well as give you a drink that you can kind of interact
09:07with.
09:08So this is where the pebble ice comes in.
09:10The little bamboo leaf, as well as a little orchid, to bring you back into the tropics.
09:14I really love serving martinis in Nick and Nora glasses with a side car, kept on ice.
09:18Sip as much as you want.
09:19Whenever you're ready, pour a little bit more out.
09:22That's your perfect martini.
09:24So flair bartending is essentially bartending with a little extra style.
09:28I think that any time you're out at a restaurant, a bar, and you're enjoying yourself and you
09:32see a bartender having fun and showing you a level of mastery of their craft, I think
09:36it's an enjoyable experience.
09:37So the way I like to start my martini is putting a couple dashes of orange bitters in there,
09:42and then we're going to put some Bianco Vermouth.
09:44Now for me, Bianco Vermouths have a little bit more floral characteristic and have a
09:50little bit more going on as far as body.
09:53So it gives a little bit of richness to the cocktail that I don't think Dry Vermouth necessarily
09:58has.
09:59And then I'm going to use gin.
10:01And I think most people that say they don't like gin probably have had a bad experience
10:05with a bad gin.
10:06Lots of ice.
10:07Ice is our friend.
10:08We love ice.
10:09Makes the drink nice and cold.
10:10And we're going to stir.
10:11We're going to use a martini.
10:12I have very strong opinions about this.
10:13Stirring will keep that velvety mouthfeel that is so important with a martini.
10:16And of course, we'll do a nice long pour, a little aeration that never hurt anybody.
10:23And then we're just going to finish it off with a little lemon peel.
10:25Give it a little rim.
10:27Drop it in.
10:28Gin martini.
10:31A martini can be a very simple drink for a home bartender.
10:33Being able to just pull out a martini at a dinner party or when you're having people
10:36over for cocktails is kind of special.
10:38And I'm going to take my coupe just to get a little bit cold.
10:41So I'm going to throw it in the freezer.
10:43So now I'm going to go ahead and just take my shaker and then plop in a few ice cubes
10:49and then a little bit of vodka.
10:51Honestly, I don't use a measuring thing when I'm at home.
10:53So we're just going to pour some in.
10:55You can actually see it's starting to frost there on the outside.
10:57So you know it's nice and cold.
10:59And then my chilled glass.
11:01It's got that nice little frost on it.
11:03I'm just going to rim this glass with a little bit of the lime to give it that nice little
11:07flavor.
11:08I know that vermouth is a thing that often goes into martinis, but for the home, I like
11:12just a straight up vodka martini with a little bit of a twist.
11:15It is all vodka.
11:17This is a glass of chilled vodka.
11:20But that's okay for a home bartender.
11:21Donahue's Steakhouse is a family-run restaurant.
11:24We've got four generations.
11:25I am the third.
11:26In the olden days, you asked for a martini, it was gin automatically.
11:30At Donahue's, I'd say at least half the customers are ordering a vodka martini before dinner.
11:35Tribuno dry vermouth.
11:37I'm going to swish this around a little bit.
11:39I'm going to pour this off because the ice has now been blessed.
11:43Basically, you pour off all the extra vermouth to make a dry martini.
11:47Then you're going to open up a Grey Goose, shake it up, and then your martini glass.
11:52You chill it, of course, because it has to be cold.
11:55Take the lemon twist, put that in here.
12:00Now that's a perfect way to start an evening.
12:04I bartend at a neighborhood industry bar.
12:07Jack and Coke's, Tito's and Soda's, Tequila Soda.
12:10People do order martinis.
12:12Even in a neighborhood bar, you'll get them.
12:14It's a domino effect.
12:15Once someone sees one go out, they want it.
12:17This is just an ice bath for the martini glass because there's nothing worse than making
12:21an ice-cold martini and then pouring it at room temperature or maybe dishwasher-fresh
12:25glass.
12:26So I prefer to go with vodka to each their own.
12:28As long as I'm not drinking an espresso martini, I don't think you should be judging me.
12:34While I have my vodka, I'll shake it a little bit, let it sit, and then I'm going to wash
12:40the glass with vermouth.
12:41It's known as an in-and-out.
12:43I think that a good martini has to have vermouth that's been refrigerated.
12:46It does go bad if you don't keep it stored properly.
12:50Fresh vermouth, that's the game changer.
12:52You just swirl it so that you coat the glass with the vermouth, and then you dump it.
12:57I don't always use a strainer because I'm not a cocktail bartender.
13:01Just like this, using the two.
13:04And then for a twist, if I wanted a dirty martini, I'd just go swim in the ocean.
13:07Take the skin, twist it, run it over the top of the glass, and you just drop it in, and
13:13that's it.
13:15I work in a high-volume craft cocktail bar.
13:18On an average night, I probably make between 800 to 900 cocktails.
13:22I've won some pretty big speed bartending competitions.
13:25So putting some ice in the glass.
13:27I prefer a 50-50 style martini.
13:31For the speed, it's pretty easy.
13:35In the nightlife world, time is money.
13:37The faster I can make drinks, the more I can move on to the next guest and hopefully make
13:41more money off of them.
13:44Put some ice.
13:46You hold it low.
13:47You pour it slow.
13:48For a sturdy cocktail, you want a silky texture on the palate, and then you have a really
13:52nice, beautiful texture on the top of the glass.
13:55So for me, a 50-50 martini should always have a lemon twist and an olive.
13:59I rub the lemon peel on the stem of the glass.
14:02When someone picks up the glass, you're actually smelling the oils on your fingers.
14:06And then wrap my olive in my peel.
14:10I really like a snack with my martinis, and that is that.
14:15I mean, this vodka, that's what I'm looking for, right?
14:19This is a great martini.
14:20Delicious.
14:21It really kind of just balances it out, makes it really pleasant, makes you kind of want
14:24to go for a second sip.
14:25Delicious.
14:26Delicious.
14:27Perfect.