Poet Sylvia Plath Loved Indulging In This Classic Cocktail

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Sylvia Plath is one of the great poets and writers of the 20th century. As the author of such powerful works as "The Colossus and Other Poems" and the posthumously published "Ariel," she is regarded as one of the most influential writers in the American literary canon. Considering her timeless, legendary status, it only makes sense that her go-to cocktail was a classic, no-nonsense tipple: the vodka martini.

In fact, in "The Bell Jar," perhaps her most famous work, the protagonist Esther Greenwood orders straight vodka at a bar. The reference itself is quite telling: "I began to think vodka was my drink at last. It didn't taste like anything, but it went straight down into my stomach like a sword swallowers' sword and made me feel powerful and godlike." It's speculated that this detail may have reflected the author's imbibing preferences — while the tastes of some late luminaries remain unknown, Plath's proclivity for a vodka martini was no secret. 

She often enjoyed drinking the cocktail with Anne Sexton, another widely acknowledged and beloved American poet. Their complicated exploits are even documented in the biography "Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton," which features accounts of the pair's weekly outings at The Ritz Hotel, where they would enjoy the classic cocktail after attending a poetry workshop at Boston University. But it turns out that Plath wasn't drinking any old martini; thanks to Sexton's eulogizing 1963 poem, "Sylvia's Death," we know the duo drank their martinis "extra dry" rather than wet.

A classic martini is just hard liquor mixed with vermouth, a type of fortified wine (and optionally, bitters). The "extra dry" version that Sylvia Plath preferred goes easy on the latter, calling for just a splash of the stuff (the dry kind as opposed to the sweeter red version, natch). While any dry vermouth will do in a pinch, you can up your game with a brand like Dolin, which is made from 15 different botanicals, for more complexity.

Since vodka is the star of the drink, it's worth opting for your favorite high-quality hooch. (Whatever Plath was drinking, it clearly went down easy.) Luckily, there are several great vodka brands for martini lovers to choose from. To make your cocktail extra dry, aim for a 6-to-1 ratio of vodka to vermouth, though some people simply rinse the inside of their glass with the fortified wine for just a hint of botanical flavor to complement the vodka.

As for the garnish, perhaps given the author's affinity for vodka's clarity, some tribute recipes call for a lemon twist over an olive (though using either, or both, is acceptable). With this crowning embellishment, a strip of lemon peel is twisted to express the fruit's vibrant, aromatic citrus oils over the drink and around the edge of the glass, tying everything together in a way that's almost as satisfying as reading Plath's oeuvre.