Dry Martini Recipe: Gin, Vermouth and the Right Ratio
A Dry Martini is built around gin and dry vermouth. A clear starting point is 60 ml gin to 10 ml dry vermouth: a 6:1 ratio. Stir with ice, strain into a chilled glass and finish with lemon peel or olives.
Ingredients for one Dry Martini
- 60 ml gin
- 10 ml dry white vermouth
- Ice for mixing
- Lemon peel or green olives for garnish
How to make it
- Chill a martini glass or coupe.
- Add gin and vermouth to a mixing glass filled with ice.
- Stir until cold and suitably diluted.
- Strain into the chilled serving glass, leaving the mixing ice behind.
- Express lemon peel over the surface or garnish with green olives.
These measures follow the IBA Dry Martini recipe. Stirring is the classic method; James Bond's famous shaken preference is a different choice.
Dry, wet or dirty?
- Dry: a gin-led balance with less dry vermouth. The recipe above is 6:1.
- Wet: more vermouth relative to the gin. A 4:1 ratio has more vermouth than 6:1.
- Dirty: olive brine is added; an olive garnish alone does not make it dirty.
Change one proportion at a time to discover what you like. Vermouth remains part of the recipe: use dry white vermouth, not the sweet red style used in a Negroni.
A classic with several origin stories
The Martini's origins are disputed. One well-known account connects it with New York's Knickerbocker Hotel, which itself describes the story as a legend. The cocktail's place in films and bar culture is much easier to recognise than a single inventor.
The Dry Martini collection
That recognisable glass and sense of occasion inspired our Dry Martini collection, with a playful approach to a cocktail classic. Find a measured Dirty Martini among our seven New Year's Eve cocktails.
