For the perfect dry martini, Alton Brown stirs rather than shakes his gin and vermouth, and serves it up cold in a classic Nick & Nora glass.

Course: Drinks

Keyword: Cocktails, Entertaining, Gin

The AB Martini

Name: The AB Martini
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: Ice cubes; 2 1/2 fluid ounces London Dry gin, very cold; 3/4 fluid ounce dry vermouth; 1 dash orange bitters; 1 lemon

Alton Brown martini garnished with a twist of lemon and flanked by gin, vermouth, a lemon and a cocktail mixing glass.

ACTIVE TIME: 5

TOTAL TIME: 5

Yield: 1 cocktail

No offense to Mr. Bond, but I prefer my martinis stirred not shaken (shaking waters down the cocktail, and I'm looking for full potency here) and served in a more practical glass. My vessel of choice is a Nick and Nora glass, named for the sleuthing-while-swilling couple from the Thin Man movie series.

Oh, and I garnish with a lemon twist rather than an olive. If I want an olive, I'll order a dirty martini, which isn't a martini at all, but we'll argue about that another day.

A note about the lemon: Lemons are often coated with a food-grade wax which keeps them looking nice in the market bin while preventing drying. Because I don’t like the idea of wax in my drink, I usually soak my lemons in hot water for 3 minutes, then rinse and dry before use.

This recipe first appeared in Season 2 of Good Eats: Reloaded.

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Software

Ice cubes
2 1/2 fluid ounces London Dry gin, very cold
3/4 fluid ounce dry vermouth
1 dash orange bitters
1 lemon

Specialized Hardware

Cocktail jigger

Nick and Nora glass

Cocktail mixing glass

Cocktail stirring spoon

Y-shaped peeler

Hawthorne or julep strainer

ACTIVE TIME: 5

TOTAL TIME: 5

Yield: 1 cocktail

Procedure

Fill a cocktail mixing glass half full of clean iceRinse ice from a freezer dispenser with clean water before using. and place several cubes in a Nick and Nora glass to chill the vessel.
Add the gin, vermouth, and bitters to the mixing glass and stir with a cocktail spoon five times in one direction then five more in the opposite direction. Allow the drink to rest while you cut the twist.
Using a Y-style peeler, remove a 2-inch-long strip of peel from the lemon. I tend to peel longitudinally and while holding the peeler at a slight angle which tends to produce a strip with less of the bitter white or “pith.”
Dump the ice from the glass. (There is no such thing as a martini on the rocks, nor should there be.) Lightly run the peel around the rim of the glass, then give it a twist to release its oils and drop into the glass. Finally, strain the martini into the glass and serve immediately.