Many cocktails which are served in martini glasses are referred to as martinis these days. However, most of them are vodka based and very far from the original martini which only has 2 ingredients: Gin and vermouth.

The traditional method of preparation is to pour gin and dry vermouth into a mixing glass with ice cubes, stir, strain into chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with a green olive or a twist of lemon peel.

s always, we recommend using good quality ingredients. Try and use South African olives which have been naturally processed. There are several local distillers producing fantastic handcrafted gin. One such producer is Jorgensen’s Distillery in Wellington.

The amount of vermouth added, will depend on your taste.

Ingredients

• 8 parts gin
• 1 part vermouth

Instructions

• Some connoisseurs will swirl the vermouth around the glass and pour it out before adding the gin to the glass.