Not only can you increase the vermouth (making it “wetter”) or add olive brine (making it “dirty”) and garnish with olive, lemon peel or pickled onion, there are other variations in the martini family, such as the turf club (which adds maraschino liqueur, orange bitters and absinthe) and the vesper (which has a splash of Lillet blanc).
Alex Costin, Applewood’s bar supervisor, says they have a choose-your-own-adventure martini menu – perfect for the uninitiated – which walks you through a number of choices: clean or dirty, how dry and which flavours.
Rob Libecans of Melbourne’s Caretaker’s Cottage, which last year was named the best bar in Australasia, says its martini outsells everything but Guinness on the menu; in 2024 they served more than 12,000.
The dirty martini – a martini with olive brine and extra olives – is a crowd favourite (which could be due partly to salt’s ability to suppress bitter flavours).
Wet, dry, dirty or clean, the classic cocktail has long been associated with suave, retro characters such as James Bond and Mad Men’s Roger Sterling (though Sterling’s is a Gibson – a martini garnished with pickled onions).
