Order Your Martini 'Naked' For A Cocktail That's Brutally Cold And Barely Touched By Vermouth

Vermouth is a fortified wine that is aromatized, or flavored, with a blend of botanicals. While it's one of the key ingredients in a traditional gin or vodka martini, some people don't like it. If you're a fan of martinis but don't love the intense flavor of vermouth, we have the perfect solution. To craft the perfect martini, Tasting Table spoke with David Kravitz, the Beverage Director at The Group Hospitality, a collection of New York City restaurants that includes Olio e Più, Boucherie, and Omakase. His suggestion? A naked martini, which is one of the only martini variations barely touched by vermouth. As Kravitz explains, "A naked martini is a martini made by pouring gin or vodka from a bottle kept in a freezer into a frozen glass with only the suggestion of vermouth."

This method, which is similar to the icy-cold way that Ernest Hemingway enjoyed his martinis, is said to have been developed by Salvatore Calabrese, who was the bar manager at London's Dukes Hotel. The story goes that in the '80s, he served a naked martini (or a Duke's martini, as it was later known) to a journalist who requested a very cold, very dry martini. This is the ultimate martini recipe for anyone who doesn't love vermouth. "It is basically a way to consume 3 plus ounces of booze without thinking about it," Kravitz adds. "The extreme cold helps suppress the sharpness of the alcohol, making it smoother and more enjoyable to drink."

To make the perfect naked martini, we asked Kravitz for his expert tips. "The goal...is not to dilute the spirit, and by serving it so cold, you mask [the] flavor and the burn of alcohol," he explains. Thus, you want a smooth, cold, and strong drink that isn't diluted by ice. To do this, don't use the classic martini recipe, in which the ingredients are shaken with ice in a cocktail shaker. Instead, the gin or vodka and the martini glasses should be chilled in the freezer. After removing them, add a few drops of your preferred brand of vermouth to each glass. Then add the chilled gin or vodka and your favorite martini garnish, whether it is an olive, cocktail onion, lemon twist, or even a sardine.

When it comes to the specific brands of gin and vodka that should be used to craft a naked martini, Kravitz had some further suggestions. "I would suggest using a lower-tier spirit," he notes. "There's no need to waste a complex gin or high-priced vodka for this type of martini." If you really hate vermouth, try Midori for a tropical twist on a lychee martini. You can also make a martini without vermouth or any substitute. This is known as a Churchill martini, as it was Winston Churchill's preferred recipe. However, there is also a happy medium to be found between a vermouth-heavy martini and one without vermouth at all: the naked martini.