Dry or dirty, you can find National Martini Day recipes here.
Photo courtesy of Belmont Farms Distillery
martini
License to Till and Dirty South martinis.
Looking for some new martini recipes to celebrate National Martini Day today? You’ve come to the right place! Below are some recipes from local distilleries in Virginia. Even if you can’t visit them in person during COVID-19, you can still make some of their best martinis from the comfort of your own home.
Head distiller of the James River Distillery in Richmond, Dwight Chew elaborates on the best type of gin to use for a martini, “James River Distillery makes 3 different gins, but for a martini I recommend our Continental Gin. I refer to Continental as a Richmond Dry, as it is our take on the classic. Continental Gin is juniper forward with a sarsaparilla root finish and black peppercorn notes. The earthiness from the sarsaparilla and angelica roots and the bit of spiciness from the black peppercorns makes Continental a perfect martini gin.” You can find a recipe with James River’s Continental Gin below.
James River Martini
- 2 ounces Commonwealth Gin
- 1 ounces dry vermouth
- 1 dash orange bitters
Combine all ingredients and stir with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon peel.
- VirginiaSpirits.org/distillery/james-river-distillery/
Falls Church Distillery, in Falls Church features a versatile dirty martini recipe that can use any flavor of their gin or vodka.
Falls Church Martini
- 2 dashes dry vermouth
- 2 ounces Great Falls Gin or Vodka
- 3 olives
Load a mixing cup with ice and 2 dashes of dry vermouth. Shake vigorously. Strain the liquid and add the spirit. Stir and strain into a martini glass. Finally, garnish with the three olives.
From Belmont Farms Distillery in Culpeper, here are two different martini recipes that are sure to cool down your summer day.
License to Till
- 3 ounces Kopper Kettle Golden Gin
- 1 ounces Kopper Kettle Vodka
- ½ ounces Dry Vermouth
Shake ingredients and ice vigorously. Strain into glass and varnish with a lemon peel.
Dirty South
- ½ ounces Kopper Kettle Virginia Whiskey
- 2 ounces Kopper Kettle Golden Gin
Swish whiskey in a martini glass. Add gin and stir. Garnish with a lemon peel or make it dirtier with an olive and a splash of olive juice.
Mattias Hagglund, the owner of the Jasper in Richmond gives a few pointers on crafting their delicious martini, “A couple of tips — (1) Use decent quality vermouth, and treat it like wine. It will last longer chilled in the refrigerator, and even then is only good for a few weeks. If you’re not going to use the vermouth in that period of time, split it into several small bottles right when you open the bottle; filling them as much as possible to keep air out, then cap those and refrigerate. They will last longer. (2) Orange bitters have a broad range of flavor, some are way more spicy or fruity and others. We use a 50:50 blend of Regan’s orange bitters and Fee’s West Indian Orange bitters.” Their recipe can be found below.
Jasper’s Martini
- 2 oz London dry gin, such as Beefeater
- 1 oz dry vermouth, we use Dolin.
- 1 dash orange bitters.
Build all ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice and stir well. Strain mixture into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with a lemon peel.
Mango-tini
Three Crosses Distillery in Powhatan features a cool and refreshing martini, perfect for the start of the summer.
- 2 ounces Black Chevron Vodka
- 1 ½ ounces mango nectar
- ½ ounces lime juice
- ½ ounces simple syrup
Combine all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into a martini glass with ½ the rim dipped in Tajin seasoning and garnish with a lime twist.
