"The martini is actually such a degenerate drink. It's straight up alcohol; the only thing that makes it feel classy is the glassware and the temperature. It's boozehound behaviour dressed up in formal wear. If you were drinking lukewarm vodka out of a leftover soda bottle, we would say you had a drinking problem. But drink it ice-cold in a coupe glass and now you're at Soho House. Now you're patrician. Now you're God."
"So why allow the full martini to idly sit in your glass, tending towards room temperature as time slips away? With each moment, she loses self-respect. With each sip, you inch towards debasement. The sidecar keeps indignity at bay. The bartender made it so: ice. Cold. And we must honour their artistry. A warm sip of gin and you start to lose the context of it all."
The martini is best made with gin, a whisper of vermouth, chilled, finished with a lemon twist or an olive and brine. A small chilled sidecar carafe of the remaining martini is essential to keep the drink cold between sips. The martini is simple, very strong, and historically enduring. Sweet cocktails are characterized as infantilizing compared with a stiff martini. Elegant glassware and temperature confer class on an otherwise undiluted spirit. Allowing a martini to warm diminishes dignity and invites debasement. The sidecar preserves coldness, honors the bartender's craft, and maintains the drinker's aristocratic composure.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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