Gather your tools.
A mixing glass, a long bar spoon, a jigger and a strainer, with plenty of fresh, hard ice. That is all a great Martini needs.
Chill the glass.
A cold glass keeps the last sip as good as the first. Fill it with ice and water while you build the drink, or keep it in the freezer.
Choose your spirit and your ratio.
Vodka lets texture lead, and Connoisseur 51 Reserve is our Martini vodka: silky and layered enough to stand alone in the glass. Gin brings the botanicals: Nordic London Dry for precision, Old Tom for a rounder Martini.
A good place to start is 2½ oz (7.5 cl) of spirit to ½ oz (1.5 cl) of dry vermouth. Use less vermouth for a drier Martini, more for a wetter one. Keep an opened bottle of vermouth in the fridge and use it within a month or two.
Stir, strain and settle.
Stirring with plenty of ice for about 20 to 30 seconds gives a clear, silky drink. Shaking makes it colder and a little cloudier. Both are right: choose the one you enjoy. Strain slowly into the chilled glass and give it a moment to settle.
Express the peel.
Hold a strip of lemon peel skin-side down over the glass and give it a gentle twist. A fine mist of citrus oil settles on the surface, and the first sip arrives bright and fragrant.
