As envisioned, in this wonderful piece, by the estimable David Wondrich, or @Splificator...
Quote
With a stronger gin—44 percent (the old British standard for budget gin) or 47 percent (the old British standard for premium gin)—you can use more vermouth and still keep the edge sharp. With a heavy, determinedly old-fashioned gin like Tanqueray, you can even make a 1-1 Martini, with equal parts gin and vermouth, come out just fine (26.1 percent).
Indeed, that’s how it was most commonly made in its youth, before World War I; those folks weren’t so dumb. At 1-1, the Martini can be the most elegant of comfort drinks, as New York’s pioneering and lamented Pegu Club proved over and over every night with its Tanqueray-driven 1-1 “Fitty Fitty,” and if not for the Pandemic would still be doing so.
At 2-1 (30 percent), the way Martinis were commonly made from the 1910s through World War II, and 3-1 (32 percent), there’s still enough vermouth in there to do what vermouth does, but the claws are in plain sight, if relaxed. As long as your gin is a classic London dry style—junipery and crisp, not muddy with excess botanicals—and your vermouth French and old-school (Noilly Prat; Dolin dry), this is within micrometer range of perfection, particularly if you tip in a couple dashes of good orange bitters (such as the Bitter Truth’s or the 50-50 mix of Fee’s and Regans’ favored by many modern bartenders) and twist a thin-cut swatch of lemon peel over the top.
But in these matters, I’m a perfectionist and I’m perfectly willing to cheat to get there.
The Secrets to the Best Dry Martini You’ll Ever Have
