Martini Cocktail Recipes
Pretty glasses hold any martini style
Martini Types
I’m not afraid to say it. The Martini is a pretentious drink. A lot of pretentious people have been drinking them for a long time. They have very specific ways they want the drink made and they’ve come up with names for each one. That means that you have to figure out which one you’re looking for.
Before we go further, this is a post about the different types of classic martini cocktail. This post over here is all about the history of this specific cocktail. If you’re looking for the different types of martinis (which is to say, drinks served in a martini glass but are definitely not this drink) then you’ll want this post over here.
If you don’t really know what is in a martini or how to order one, you’ll want this post right here. It explains sweet versus dry vermouth, gin versus vodka, up versus down and so much more.
But, it seems that you’re just looking to see the different classic martini cocktail recipes and different ‘official’ variations. So lets check those out!
Glassware and Volumes
A quick note before we get started… you may notice that the volume of liquid in these drinks varies between 2.5 oz total all the way up to 5 oz. A traditional martini glass had a total capacity of about 5 ounces, so a martini that is 3-4 ounces would look very nice in it.
The larger glasses we use today are more designed for those not-actually-martinis that we talk about in other posts. They could hold over 8 ounces total. 2.5 ounces in that glass would look absurd.
What would I do? I would get a set of classic, smaller glasses. They are very easy to find in thrift or antique stores for a few dollars.
What I would not recommend is increasing the volume just to do it. These drinks have little to no non-alcoholic contents. If you increase the volume until it ‘looks right’ you’ll have six or seven ounces of pure liquor. I suppose you can do that but just account for it when you’re drinking. That is not ‘one drink’.
The Classic Dry Martini
That’s actually a bit misleading, because there is a specific “Classic” Dry martini, but people use it to mean the cocktail as a whole. In this version, you can choose between Gin or Vodka. It is typically garnished with olives, though I think it’s fine to do lemon twist if you prefer. The real difference is how much Dry Vermouth you choose to add to your drink. From “Desert” to “50-50”, chose your own classic martini adventure.
The Desert Martini
As in “Dry as the Desert”, this is a martini with absolutely no vermouth whatsoever. This is the kind of martini that famous Churchill quote would be talking about.
2.5 oz Gin or Vodka
Olive or Lemon Twist Garnish
With such a simple recipe, I would probably bump this up to 3 ounces just for volume, but no more than that. You run the risk of the drink getting too warm while you sip it.
The Diamond Martini
Technically this one has to be Vodka and a lemon twist, but I don’t believe in cutting up martini recipes so rigidly. Besides, if someone asked me for a Diamond Martini, I would still ask vodka or gin, just because I don’t trust them to know exactly what they want.
2.5 oz Gin or Vodka
Rinse of Dry Vermouth
Olive or Lemon Twist Garnish
Once again, because the volume of this drink is so, so small, I would bump it up to 3 ounces just for visual purposes.
The Dry Martini
Personally, I think this is the first cocktail recipe that counts as a real martini. Those other ones were just incredibly fancy shots. If you have never had a martini, this is a good one to start with. If you hate it, then you know martinis are not for you. If you don’t hate it, you can play around with different variations until you find one that you love.
2.5 oz Gin or Vodka
0.25 oz Dry Vermouth
Olive or Lemon Twist Garnish
The Classic Martini
If I had to guess, I would say that this is the “Classic” Martini because it has the most classic proportions of Spirit to ‘secondary flavor’ of all the martinis in this category. As you will have read in the history post, it’s definitely not the oldest version.
2.5 oz Gin or Vodka
0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
Olive or Lemon Twist Garnish
The 50-50 Martini
As someone who really, really likes vermouth, this is my favorite of these dry martini recipes, particularly if you are using gin. This is the drink as it was meant to be.
2.5 oz Gin or Vodka
2.5 oz Dry Vermouth
Olive or Lemon Twist Garnish
For the sake of simplicity, I’ve left everything at 2.5 ounces, but it is completely okay to drop this one down to 2 ounces of each so it fits in the martini glass better.
Official Martini Variations
Dirty
I’m listing the Dirty Martini Recipe first because it is hands down the most popular variation of a martini. I’ve made at least twice as many dirty martini’s as all the others put together. This is the official recipe
2.5 oz Gin or Vodka
0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
Dash Olive Juice
Garnish - Olives
I would caution that this is not a recipe I get asked for often. A dirty martini is almost always Vodka based, most people ask for no vermouth, and if you use a ‘dash’ of olive juice it will get sent back for more. This is the recipe that I actually use behind the bar, typically with good results.
2.5 oz Vodka
1.5 oz Olive Juice
Garnish - At Least 3 Olives
Gibson
If this recipe looks familiar, it’s because it is literally the exact same as the “Classic” dry martini recipe up above here. The only difference is that you use a pickled cocktail onion instead of olives or lemon twists.
2.5 oz Gin
0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
Garnish - Cocktail Onion
Once again, I don’t really believe in making up new names for drinks based on changing something as small as the garnish, but since this is one I’ve actually had ordered by name before, I figured we should put it in by name.
Perfect
This is a fun and interesting variation on the Martini! This is actually much closer to the original cocktail since it includes Sweet Vermouth.
2 oz Gin
0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
0.5 oz Sweet Vermouth
Garnish - Olives or Lemon Twist
Vesper
The Vesper has a few unique aspects to it. First and foremost, it calls for 4.5 oz of spirits which is pretty hefty. It also calls for both Gin and Vodka which will make for a slightly lighter flavor. Finally, it requires Lillet Blanc, an aperitif that is in the same family as dry vermouth but very much its own flavor. If you cannot get your hands on Lillet, you can use dry vermouth but it won’t be the same at all.
3 oz Gin
1 oz Vodka
0.5 oz Lillet Blanc
Garnish - Lemon Twist
Green Vesper
The Green Vesper is the same basic structure as the Vesper, but instead of Lillet, you use absinthe. Absinthe has a very distinct black licorice/anise flavor and if you aren’t interested in that, you probably won’t like this drink.
3 oz Gin
1 oz Vodka
0.5 oz Absinthe
Garnish - Lemon Twist
This is also very different than all the other martinis, so if you fall in love with all of those, there’s no guarantee you’ll feel the same about this one.
That’s it for us today! If you want to learn more, check out the blog posts below or head over to Patreon for exclusive content and the ability to send me questions and ideas for posts! Keep an eye out for How to Be 21, to be published in 2027!
