I wanted to provide some cool historical information on the birth of the martini, like the Bellini being born at Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, however; no such fabulous story exists. Most people know about martinis from the coolest of cool James Bond ordering his martini shaken, not stirred, which is one of the mainstays of the martini recipes.
A true martini is served in a special martini glass and mixed in a special cocktail shaker with ice. There is a strainer on the top that keeps the ice from going into the drink. All the ingredients are put into the shaker and shaken for approximately one minute, then poured into a garnished glass for maximum effect. Part of the beauty of the martini is the preparation and presentation of the drink. And then, of course, the cool factor of being a hipster enjoying the trendiest of cocktails.
A note for purists: only the first two on this list are true martinis, the rest are called martinis and served in martini glasses. I am following pop culture’s definition of what is served in bars and called martinis.
Supplies for the perfect martini bar: cocktail shaker with a strainer and a measuring top, ice, martini glasses, special toothpicks or swizzle sticks for the garnish. And your best friends and family.
Perfect holiday, housewarming, wedding or birthday gift basket idea: purchase a cocktail shaker, martini glasses and make a recipe book with the recipes below into a martini bar recipe book – wrap into a beautiful ice bucket. You’ll definitely get invited back for a martini party!
If the full recipe is not listed – please click on the name to follow the link. Cheers!
1. Martini
1.25 oz vodka
.25 oz dry vermouth
1 lemon twist
Put vodka and vermouth into cocktail shaker with ice and shake for about a minute. Pour into pre-chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
2. Dirty Martini
1.25 oz vodka
.25 oz olive juice
green olives
Add olive juice and vodka to cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for approximately one minute. Pour into a pre-chilled martini glass, put in two olives. You can also use blue cheese stuffed olives for a fancier drink.
3. Cosmopolitan – My favorite.
Made famous by the Carrie Bradshaw and ladies of Sex and the City, this drink made women all across America feel hip and cosmopolitan. And they are fantastic!
Love these for the holidays! The garnish is a little gingerbread man cookie. Yum.
5. Baileys Espresso Martini
2 ozs Baileys
1/4 oz vodka (I would use vanilla vodka)
2 oz cold espresso
chocolate espresso beans for garnish
Combine Baileys, vodka and espresso into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for one minute & strain into pre-chilled martini glass. Garnish with 3 or 4 espresso beans in the glass.
I have not tried these but they look absolutely heavenly and I will be! Did you know that there was a fluffed marshmallow vodka? Me neither. But this recipe had me at crushed graham crackers on the rim and toasted marshmallow garnish. Wow!
This is a spin off of the famous frozen hot chocolate served at one of my very favorite restaurants in the world: Serendipity III in NYC. Looking for a perfect NY moment? Make reservations here & ask for a table upstairs. This is where they filmed the movie Serendipity.
New holiday tradition for in-law survival? I say, yes please!
12. Hypnotic Martini
This makes a beautiful and delicious blue martini! Fun and perfect for New Years, birthdays or theme parties. Garnish with a cherry & pineapple wedge on a stick.
4 oz Hypnotic liquer
2 oz coconut rum
2 oz pineapple juice
Bonus Martini: Dirty Girl Scout Martini – based on the Thin Mint cookie
1 oz Baileys
1/2 oz Creme de Menthe, green
1 oz kahlua
1/2 oz vodka
Did I miss your favorite martini? Please share in the comments!
Peg Fitzpatrick is proud to be a Managing Partner and writer for 12 Most. She is Director of Marketing and Social Media Manager for Kreussler Inc., and hosts the popular #MyBookClub chat on the 1st Monday of every month at 8 pm EST.
She has also started speaking at events such as the #140 Conference and is honored to be included on several “best of” online and blogging lists. Peggy loves to travel and enjoys photography as well.
All about being positive and connecting, she is a true social butterfly. Tweet her and say hi at @pegfitzpatrick, find her Stumbling on StumbleUpon, rocking Google+ here Google or happily pinning on Pinterest
@PegFitzpatrick Yummy stuff...I love trying unique martinis. This Saturday night, at a local sushi restaurant, had an incredible Lychee martini, made with vanilla vodka, and I believe, lychee liqueur. Absolutely incredible!
@PegFitzpatrick it tastes like a combination of lychee nut and coconut, and a smidge of ginger. Next time I go to the restaurant, Aji 53 in Smithtown, NY. I will write down the ingredients...tried to google, no luck.
Peggy, I Stumbleupon this post late last night to book mark it because I thought it was such a fun cool post! I just realized that you are the author! Awesome useful fun post! Love it!
While they all seem pretty appetizing, I have to admit to being very traditional when it comes to my martinis. Number one is, far and away, my favorite. And even the vodka martinis, made famous by James Bond, can only play second fiddle to the original.
In my opinion, there is something particularly classy about the original; I need all the extra help I can get! :-)
Awesome list! My Melon Martini is sure to be a favorite, especially once the warm temps come around and you enjoy it outside! And by the way, I don't use measurements. My special recipe: About half (or a little more) vodka, healthy pour (but no more than half of the vodka) of Midori, and and splash of Cointreau. For a special touch, freeze a cherry with a little juice in the bottom of the martini glass for a few hours. Then pour the drink. Now that I'm thinking of the colors, would make a great Christmas drink! Warning: Be careful after one, and especially careful after two!
Wow! Peggy you can invite me over for some S’moretini Shooters anytime! This is a fabulous list that would ROCK any holiday get together! Thank you so much for sharing!!
so this post is my excuse why i might not be around this PM or even whole weekend LOL :) Wow i can't believe Bruce did jet comment lol :) He is always the first one, I bet he went to try all recipes first before commenting :) Thanks Peggy !!!
Peg, what a trooper you are. Can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate your extensive research on this. What fun new creations to enjoy. The gingerbread and pumpkin pie are first up on my list. Thanks a million. Off to share.
I appreciate your thoughtful comments and sharing of my post. This was a really fun one and I thought people would enjoy trying something fancy at home.
Peg, this is amazing! i can't wait to try #... oh wait, I want to try all of them :) The Girl Scout Martini sounds particularly amazing. Thanks for sharing, I'll have to let you know how mine turn out :) Cheers!
@RachelTaylorChi Love to know which ones you try & enjoy Rachel. Smoretini is going to be the one for me this weekend. Or gingerbread. So hard to choose!
I’ll take a #1, but without the lemon and 3 olives please. (and perhaps slightly less vermouth) Not sure if that constitutes another martini, but it’s what I will be having over the holidays :-)
Thanks, Peggy! (and there’s no way I’ll be asking for a “Dirty Girl scout”!)
Such an appropriate article at this time of year...
Martinis are my favorite celebratory drink. Great collection -- I have not had a gingerbread martini...yet. Maybe this is the holiday season to jump in!! :)
I'm lucky to have a bartender friend that works at a local pub for fun. He makes the best espresso martini! And is wiling to experiment with whatever idea I throw at him. He does a version of the carmel apple martini...with cinnamon.
If we were ever in the same room, I think we'd have a terrific time!
