Now days there are as many Martinis as there are Magaritas.  When back in the day when men were men, women were women and life was much simpler, there was only one of each. Variety confuses the mind, makes one hesitate and generally complicates matters.  But in this day and age, variety is the coin of the realm, and is considered a virtue.  In the realm of Martinis, to me there are only 4 varieties-stirred or shaken, Gin or Vodka.

Now I personally like a Vodka Martini however, it only exceeds Gin by a micro-chip.  See, I can get with the times!  If I do use Gin, I prefer Bombay Sapphire.  And that is only because I had a perfect Bombay Martini at a piano bar in New York City while Bobby Short was singing a Cole Porter song AND because Richard Marcinko, founder of Seal Team 6 and the original Rogue Warrior, drank ONLY Bombay.  And what man doesn’t want to emulate Marcinko?  The reason I like Vodka a bit more is because I can drink 2 instead of 1 and thereby double my enjoyment!

The perfect Martini is very simple and elegant.  Here’s how I do it.

Before you begin you must make a few small preparations.  Cut a lemon in half and then cut 2 portions of the lemon skin off.  One for a garnish and the other, about 2″ long and an inch wide, as a twist to squeeze lemon oil and infuse the top of your drink.  Spear 2 large Martini olives.

Then I put my glass into the freezer until it frosts over.  While its getting its chill on, I fill a shaker with ice CUBES.  You want cubes instead of shavings because you don’t want too much ice to melt into your drink.  Yes, I also like them shaken.  Pour 2 jiggers of your chosen poison into the stainless steel shaker and shake vigorously for a moment to shock the Vodka and then stir in a rotating motion gently until a frost forms on the outside of the shaker.  At this time your hand will begin to get very cold.  You know you’re getting close. Let it sit for a moment while you remove the Martini glass from the freezer and pour about 1/4 capful of dry Vermouth into it, the idea being to use the Vermouth VERY sparingly.  Now pour in a steady motion the Vodka into the glass.  When that is done, grasp the large lemon skin and squeeze or twist it over the drink so the oil jumps out and onto the Martini. Place the speared olives in, add the garnish, and VOILA!  The perfect Martini.

Some like them pink, some like them Cadillac, some like them dirty.  I like mine clean and deadly. When I drink a Martini, I like to think back to the 30’s and 40’s, with Humphrey Bogart standing against a bar in Casablanca with a Martini in one hand and a cigarette in the other.  A beautiful blond walking his way. Or perhaps Shanghai when it was classic and not ‘Disneyland Shanghai’.  There is a sense of beauty and a feeling of danger, romance and elegance in a simple Martini that harkens back to a time when music moved the heart and not the feet. And when black was black, white was white and evil and goodness were easily defined.

A true romantic and a true Urban man or woman understands the beauty of a classic Martini and despite the fact that pop culture has tried to co-opt it, nevertheless, it stands alone, one foot firmly planted in another time.

If you like this article, you can visit my site, Urban Life, where you can see a picture of the perfect Martini and also many other articles and videos about music, food, cooking, photography and the city life.

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