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Epicurious

Martini Bar

This image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Plant Food and Bread
Photograph by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, Food Styling by Alison Roman, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski

Technically this martini variation is called a 50/50 since it’s half gin and half vermouth. As you won’t be individually stirring these 'tinis, water is added to aid in the dilution you’d normally get from ice. That’s necessary to transform the mixture from pure alcohol to a tasty, drinkable beverage. This is the cocktail hour course from Alison Roman’s “Steak House Night in America” menu: Low-and-Slow Rib Roast, Baked Potatoes Deluxe, The Greatest Creamed Greens, and Upside-Down Apricot Tart.

Recipe adapted with permission from Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over by Alison Roman (Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC). Copyright © 2019. 

Recipe information

  • Yield

    8 servings

Ingredients

2½ cups gin
2½ cups dry vermouth
Olive brine and olives, cocktail onions, and/or lemon twists (for serving)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine gin, vermouth, and 1 cup water in any vessel large enough to hold all 6 cups of liquid. Stir until well combined (alcohol and water have different densities, so you need this step for proper mixing). Chill until ready to serve.

    Step 2

    Pour over a glass of ice (it doesn’t need to be a martini glass) and let guests garnish however they like. Olive brine and olives for dirty, cocktail onions for a Gibson vibe, and a lemon twist for, uh, a twist.

TagsCocktailAlcoholBeveragesMartiniGinVermouth5 Ingredients or FewerBon Appétit
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