For such a simple cocktail it’s hard to grasp the full breadth and vocabulary of the martini. They can be dirty-shaken stirred and served with any number of garnishes. A traditional martini essentially requires just two ingredients: dry vermouth and either vodka or gin. Of course there are plenty of additions to this two-ingredient dynamo like the signature ingredient in the salty delicious dirty martini. But some of the most common recipe variations have nothing to do with fancy additions or elaborate garnishes; they’re more concerned with the ratio of those two main ingredients.
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 Behind the Bar | 2019-09-30 23:00:00 |  74,833 Views |
This is how you order a Martini like a boss!
Perhaps the two most essential variations of the martini are the wet and the dry. Simply put a dry martini has a higher ratio of vodka (or gin) to vermouth than a classic martini while a wet martini has a higher ratio of vermouth to vodka (or gin). A standard martini ranges from a 3:1 to a 4:1 ratio of vodka to vermouth. The exact ratios of both wet and dry versions vary but a standard dry martini calls for a 5:1 ratio of vodka to vermouth. Some mixologists will simply wash the glass in vermouth and discard it before adding the liquor creating an extra dry martini. Then there's the wet martini which shifts the ratio balance further toward vermouth typically between a 2:1½ to a 2:1 ratio of vodka to vermouth.
Vermouth seems to be the main difference between a bone-dry martini and a soaking wet one. But what exactly is vermouth and what does it add to your drink? At its core vermouth is a fortified wine that also contains various aromas such as juniper and clove. Vermouth comes in both sweet and dry varieties that vary in flavor and color.
A classic martini calls for the dry variety of vermouth. This variety tends to have a botanical flavor thanks to the infusion of various herbs that complements the similarly herbal flavor of gin. This may be why gin is such a popular choice of spirit for the martini. But vermouth isn't just an essential component of gin-based martinis. The fortified wine helps to tone down the alcoholic flavor of any martini and the floral base can help to soften the harsher aspects of the base spirit whether that's gin or vodka. (This goes for both wet and dry martinis.)
