Vodka Martini
Also known as Kangaroo
The Martini built on vodka instead of gin: colder, softer, and by the 1960s the default order in many American bars.
Vodka martinis appear in American bar books after the Second World War, and under the older name Kangaroo — vodka, vermouth, lemon peel — in the 1940s. Vodka advertising of the 1950s, and Ian Fleming’s Bond ordering one, turned it into the standard Martini for a generation of drinkers. Gin drinkers have argued about it ever since; the drink itself is the same architecture with a neutral base, which is exactly why the flavoured-martini boom of the 1990s could build on it.
- The 1990s flavoured-martini wave — Cosmopolitan, Appletini, Lemon Drop — grew out of the vodka martini’s neutrality.
- Kangaroo (vodka, vermouth, lemon peel)
- Dirty Martini (olive brine)
- Vesper (gin and vodka)
““Shaken, not stirred” is a vodka-martini instruction: shaking chills and dilutes faster than stirring.”
Ingredients
- Vodka60 ml
- Dry vermouth10 ml
- Lemon twist or oliveto garnish
Method
Stir the vodka and vermouth with ice, strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a lemon twist or an olive.
Martini glass · no ice · lemon twist or olive