Make a martini at home

We have all seen the inimitable James Bond demanding this drink in all the Bond movies. The “shaken, not stirred” line has been used by many Martini drinkers. Thought it gained popularity in the 1900s, it was slowly replaced by other ‘hip’ drinks in the coming decades. Luckily for Martini lovers, this drink gained its status back in the mid 90's.

The consensus of the superior version seems to be divided among the ardent supporters of both varieties. But it doesn't matter if the drink is stirred or shaken, both are equally good.

The difference between the two is that the shaken version of Martini will contain tiny specks of ice while the stirred form will retain its clarity.

Given below are some simple ways to prepare a Martini, both shaken and stirred.

•   The ingredients required are 2 ½ oz of gin, a minute amount of dry vermouth (ratio of 8:1 of gin against vermouth), ice and some olives (for garnishing).

•  For the stirred version, put some ice cubes in a cocktail shaker and pour the vermouth stirring the drink gently. Next quickly strain this mix, add the gin and stir it well. This mixture can be now poured into a martini glass, garnished with olives and enjoyed.

• For the shaken Martini, mix all the ingredients in the cocktail shaker and shake it well. This can now be poured into the martini glass with the olives added as garnish.

• In a dry martini the vermouth quantity is either very minuscule or totally avoided.

• A Gibson Martini is prepared with vodka instead of gin and garnished with pickled onion.

Although initially martini was prepared using gin as the base, the new-age bartenders tend to experiment using vodka, and forgo the vermouth. Some flavors like green apple, apple, cherry and chocolate have gained popularity in the present times.