My perfect martini is made with gin and dry vermouth, and no offense to Mr. Bond, but I prefer mine stirred, not shaken. Looking to mix things up? Substitute a black olive for the green olive and you've got a Buckeye. Use a cocktail onion and you have a Gibson. Add a shot of Scotch and you have a Smoky Martini, and a few drops of the brine from the olive jar would give you a Dirty Martini. I occasionally like to sneak in a few flakes of smoked sea salt for a kind of Dirty Smoky Martini... but that's just me. This recipe first appeared in Season 9 of Good Eats.
Place some crushed ice into a wide-rimmed glass, and set aside.
Place 1 cup of crushed ice into a Boston-style cocktail shaker. Pour in the vermouth and swirl it around, making as much contact as possible with the ice. Using a strainer, pour the vermouth out. Add the gin and stir well to combine.
Remove the ice from your serving glass and add the olive. Using the strainer, pour the gin into the serving glass.