Nothing says sophisticated fun and good times like the iconic symbol of a martini glass and its associated contents - and I’m referring to the liquid contents - and not the girl in our design!
"Getting Nauti's Martini Girl"
If for some bizarre reason you don’t know, a martini is made using vermouth and gin or vodka and preferably, if you’re a super spy “Shaken, not stirred.” Why is this best? Well maybe it’s not, ask Google and you will see the amount of debate and science that has gone into answering this question – outrageous – I mean don’t scientists have better things to do? My take? Shaking cools the drink faster than stirring and, let’s face it, Bond never really has time to hang about, does he?
007 with his "shaken, not stirred" vodka Martini
Which leads us to why it’s probably his drink of choice, it’s strong, and there’s a certain bravado to drinking what is essentially neat liquor. Savouring a long drink would leave him exposed for too long. Downing a shot is not spy-classy, and so a martini is a sure way to get your hit and get out of there, so to speak. The quote, “One martini, two martinis, three martinis, floor,” puts its strength nicely into context.
Don't drink and spy
Yes, it’s that strong. Maybe that’s why our lovely lady is lounging in her glass. Which, depending on your host, may or may not be a better place to be than Dorothy Parker’s martini fuelled destination.
“I like to have a martini, two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table, after four, I'm under my host.”
You’ve been warned!
Still want one? Then you need to know how to order one. The easy bit? Gin or vodka? Your choice is mixed on a five to one ratio with vermouth.
“I must get out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini.”
Translation:- ‘Let me undress while you make me a martini and go easy on the vermouth.”
A wet martini is the opposite and presumably consumed fully clothed. A perfect martini changes the ratio of gin or vodka and vermouth to one to one. An in and out martini is where the glass is doused in vermouth, and then the vermouth is dumped leaving just a coating. Named for Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, The Montgomery Martini is a ratio of fifteen to one, just how he liked his pre-battle martini.
Usually, a martini is garnished with olives. Order a martini with a twist and citrus peel will be twisted over your glass to release its oils into your drink. Order a Gibson Martini, and you’ll get a cocktail onion instead of an olive. Order a Dirty Martini, and you still don’t get a luscious scantily clad lady in your glass. What you get is the olive brine added to your drink which leaves you with a salty but rather cloudy looking beverage. Asking for it extra dirty or even filthy only increases the brine I’m afraid.
A dirty Martini
Now, here comes the next bit of confusion. There’s a vermouth brand named Martini and Rossi. Remember the roller skating waitress? And the very cheeky campaign strapline, “Anytime, anyplace, anywhere”? Make sure that when you order your martini that you are getting the martini you think you are getting. Martini and Rossi’s Vermouth has Bianco, Rosso, and Extra Dry varieties, so if you are asked for your preference of these, the bar tender is not on the same page as you!
Given the drink’s potency, it’s understandable that the drink’s origins have been lost to a blurry haze but there’s a popular theory that this cocktail was a favorite of J.D.Rockefeller and blended by Martini di Arma di Taggia, the bartender at The Knickerboker Hotel in New York. It seems possible that guests would ask for his specialty by name.
The Knickerbocker Hotel, New York
‘I’ll have a Martini, please.”
See how innocently it rolls off the tongue? That’s how you accidentally order a martini…..you can blame me! Nauti by name, naughty by nature!