Dry Martini in a martini glass with an olive garnish

Dry Martini 4:1

Name: Dry Martini 4:1
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: London dry gin — 60 ml (2 oz); Dry vermouth — 15 ml (1/2 oz); Orange bitters (opt.) — 1 dash

Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 30.5% ABV ∙

The Dry Martini 4:1 stirs London dry gin with dry vermouth at four parts to one, served up in a martini glass with an olive or a lemon twist.

Ingredients

Servings

London dry gin60 ml
Dry vermouth15 ml
Orange bitters (opt.)1 dash

Garnish

Olive
Lemon twist

Instructions for 1 serving

Pre-chill a glass
Stir all ingredients with ice: London dry gin 60 mlDry vermouth 15 mlOrange bitters 1 dash (opt.)
Fine strain into the chilled glass
Garnish with olives or a lemon twist

Tips

Stir gin, vermouth and the optional bitters with large cubes for about 30 seconds.
Hold the ratio at 4:1; even a little extra vermouth pushes this dry martini toward a wet one.

History

The Dry Martini 4:1 keeps the gin-to-vermouth ratio that became standard in the 1940s. Over the 20th century the Martini grew steadily drier as its vermouth share shrank: about 2:1 by 1922, 3:1 in the 1930s, 4:1 in the 1940s, and leaner still later, as in the Dry Martini 5:1.