Kicking back on the sofa, watching our favourite TV show with a homemade gin martini; we couldn’t think of a better way to spend World Martini Day. Coincidentally enough, that’s precisely how our celebrations went down this past weekend!
June 19th marks the official calendar date for World Martini Day and, for us martini fiends, it’s the perfect excuse to indulge. Instead of hopping to our favourite speakeasies and cocktail bars in the city, we decided on a relaxing night in with our very own homemade martini kit, delivered courtesy of The Botanist.
Included in our kit was The Botanist’s elegant Islay Dry Gin. This particular gin is known to have a versatile mouthfeel, making it the perfect choice for a range of different martini recipes. Combining sweet and earthy aromas from the Islay 22 botanicals, as well as floral and herbal overtones, you can use it to craft the ultimate gin martini to your taste, be it super sweet, ultra-dry, or a balance between the two. Its reviews online speak for themselves — this gin is truly loved by many.
With olives, cocktail onions, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth and two shiny coup glasses to complete our set-up, our martini station was ready to go for a cosy winter’s Sunday. We had the TV going in the background and played around with four different recipes, ranging from dirty and salty, to crisp, refreshing, and light to taste. Check out the quick, easy and delicious martini recipes we tried below:
The Dry Martini
Ingredients:
- 75ml The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
- 15ml Dry Vermouth, chilled
- Garnish: lemon peel twist
Method:
- Fill your martini glass with ice and set aside.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice and add all the ingredients, stirring continuously for at least 30 seconds. This will allow for the ideal amount of dilution from the ice.
- Empty the ice out of the glass. Strain into your chilled glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
The Dirty Martini
Ingredients:
- 65ml The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
- 15ml Dry Vermouth, chilled
- 10ml olive brine
- Garnish: two olives
Method:
- Fill your martini glass with ice and set aside.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice and add all the ingredients, stirring continuously for at least 30 seconds. This will allow for the ideal amount of dilution from the ice.
- Empty the ice out of the glass. Strain into your chilled glass. Garnish with two olives.
The Perfect Martini
Ingredients:
- 45ml The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
- 22.5ml Dry Vermouth, chilled
- 22.5ml Sweet Vermouth, chilled
- Garnish: lemon peel twist
Method:
- Fill your martini glass with ice and set aside.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice and add all the ingredients, stirring continuously for at least 30 seconds. This will allow for the ideal amount of dilution from the ice.
- Empty the ice out of the glass. Strain into your chilled glass. Garnish with two olives.
The Gibson Martini
Ingredients:
75ml The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
15ml Dry Vermouth, chilled
Garnish: two pickled onions
Method:
- Fill your martini glass with ice and set aside.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice and add all the ingredients, stirring continuously for at least 30 seconds. This will allow for the ideal amount of dilution from the ice.
- Empty the ice out of the glass. Strain into your chilled glass. Garnish with two pickled onions.
