If Martinis Are Your Drink Of Choice You Need To Be Making Them The Dukes Way

The martini is the simple classic cocktail (gin, dry vermouth, olives, cold, done) that gets convoluted in all kinds of ways (Vodka? Twist? Espresso, for goodness' sake?!), creating divisive factions intent on destroying dissenters and all their incorrect imbibing ways once and for all. Or at least, you know, making their own preferences' superiority known. And, if you're a little more relaxed about all the vast and varied ways that one can order a martini, you might just find a new riff to sip from time to time.

One of the most revered martinis in the world honors the drink's more important, though intangible and oft overlooked, de facto ingredient for a bold, bracing tipple to topple them all: the aforementioned temperature. Dukes at the St. James's hotel in London has been making a cracklingly cold martini for decades simply by taking the revolutionary step of freezing its London dry gin (the bar itself first opened in 1908). Literally little more than your freezer is all you need to recreate this truly iconic martini Stateside, or wherever you are in the world.

If you already store your clear liquor in the freezer, you're more than halfway to a Dukes martini. (Those new to the procedure needn't worry: liquor won't freeze to a solid in your household appliance thanks to a little entry-level science.) Pop a V-shaped cocktail glass in there, too, and let it develop a nice frost. About a half an hour should do it. In addition to its signature chill, a Dukes martini is notably dry, meaning it contains less vermouth than a wet martini. You'll tip in about a quarter of an ounce and twirl to coat the glass, pouring out anything that doesn't turn icy itself.

Four ounces of the freezer gin follows right into the glass, which then gets a spritz of oil from a strip of lemon zest, which also rims the glass before it's submerged right into the glug of gin and the whisper of vermouth. With just a few flicks of the wrist you've quieted the old shaken or stirred debate once and for all. And, although Dukes' recipe is strictly for London dry gin, you can dredge up another old mixology battle and swap in some freezer vodka instead, if you wish.