How to Cocktail

Yes and no! The fact that there’s dry vermouth in a martini is not what makes it dry; confusingly, the more dry vermouth in the drink the “wetter” it is. The character of a classic gin martini is defined by the delicate balance of botanical flavors and aromas imparted by both gin and dry vermouth. However, the proper balance of these elements is the subject of much discussion. To boot, over decades and across countless bartender reference guides, the ratio of gin to vermouth recommended for a “classic” martini has varied significantly. How “wet” or “dry” a martini is depends on the amount of vermouth; the more vermouth, the wetter the martini. Over time, popular versions of the classic martini have gone from wetter to drier. In older cocktail recipes, martinis approached a nearly equal ratio of gin to vermouth (now referred to as a 50-50 martini). Current fashion calls for ranges from about 2.5:1 to 5:1. Through our testing, we settled on a ratio of 4:1; see our Gin Martini lesson to learn how to make what we consider the perfect version.

Simple syrup is as, well, simple as it sounds and you should definitely be whipping it up at home. Sugar in some form is a fundamental building block of cocktails; the earliest cocktail recipes called for four essential ingredients: spirits, bitters, water, and sugar. Sometimes sugar is used to provide an unequivocal punch of sweetness; other times, it is a single note in a chord of flavors, used to balance acidic, bitter, savory, or other qualities of a cocktail. Modern cocktail recipes sometimes call for granulated sugar or sugar cubes, but these can be difficult to dissolve, leaving you with grit in your drink. Alternatively, some recipes call for sugar in the form of a syrup, usually either simple syrup (with a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water) or rich syrup (with a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water), which is easy to incorporate into all types of cocktails. We wanted to keep things simple (literally), so we came up with a quick method using warm water (no cooking required) to produce a basic simple syrup that we could use in all our cocktails. When using this syrups in our recipes, we were careful to account for their specific level of sweetness, as well as the water amount (which affects a cocktail’s dilution), in order to achieve perfectly balanced cocktails. Find our recipe for easy simple syrup here.

Sorry 007, but stirred is best for a classic martini. Whether shaking or stirring a cocktail you’re trying to achieve three things: combining, chilling, and diluting. While stirring is a relatively gentle way to do this, shaking is quite violent and produces a colder but also cloudier and slightly lighter textured cocktail due to all the agitation. While this may be preferable for some drinks a true martini should be strong, perfectly clear, and have a rich, viscous, almost oily texture, so for a true martini we reach for a mixing glass and bar spoon and stir it up.

If your fridge doesn’t produce crushed ice you have a few options. There are manual hand-crank as well as electric ice crushers, but unless you use a lot of crushed ice (or have a lot of cabinet space) this probably isn’t the most practical option. You can add regular cubed ice to your food processor and pulse until it reaches your desired consistency, about 8 to 10 pulses. You can also purchase a wooden ice mallet and Lewis bag; putting your ice in the canvas bag and whacking it with the mallet produces fluffier, drier crushed ice than if using a food processor. Plus, it's more fun.

The key to a satisfying non alcoholic cocktail is creating complexity without liquor, and a balance of bitter, tart, sweet, and pungent flavors. Many mocktails just remove the alcohol without further modifying the ingredients but this results in a flat mixture akin to watered down lemonade. Citrus is a good place to start, but think outside the usual lemon/lime/orange triumvirate. Perhaps our favorite mocktail hack is to reach for unexpected ingredients that can really infuse flavor into a drink; think herbs like basil, rosemary, sumac, and tarragon; spices like fresh ginger, coriander seeds, and star anise; simple syrups steeped with edible flowers, fresh chiles, or grapefruit rind. Teas are another great way to add nuanced flavors and a slight bitter, tannic texture. You can even get savory with carrots, beets, and celery! And take a look at the Cocktails with Friends class to learn all about shrubs.