Thanks for buying the Gin Box! This page contains all the recipes, tips and information you need to make up to 6 great drinks and learn about Jensen’s Gin.

This month’s box makes 2×2 main cocktails:

• The Martinez
• The Gin Martini

And enough left to taste the ingredients neat, or make 1-2 smaller cocktails from 6 extra Martini recipes!

As well as the contents of the box, you will need:

• A lemon for the peel
• Optional pickled onion, olives in brine, lime and maraschino cherries for other garnishes.
• A coupe or martini glass
• a mixologist kit
• cubed ice

Let’s get started!

The Recipes

For all recipes:

You can use either Gin for either recipe, but my recommendation would be to use the Old Tom for the Martinez (it’s sweeter and made to an old-style recipe, which suits the cocktail more) and the Bermondsey Dry for the Martinis.

1 dash = roughly ¼ teaspoon

The Martinez

The Martinez is the pre-cursor to the modern Martini. There are 2 well-known origin stories, but the debate rages to this day on which is true.

My favourite story is that the Martinez was invented in and named after the town of Martinez in California. A prospector who had just struck gold, came into town for a drink to celebrate and asked the bartender at a local bar, Julio Richelieu, to make him a new drink.

Some say that the Martini is the same cocktail as a Martinez, and that the name simply became confused or shortened over time. It may have been named for the Martini & Rossi distillery in italy, which made the important ingredient of sweet Itlaian vermouth. Some claim it was named for the bartender at the Knickerbocker hotel in New York, Martini di Arma Di Taggia, who suppsedly invented it there in the early 20th century. That may well be true of the Martini, but then the Martinez appeared in cocktail books as early as 1884, which would suggest that they are actually two drinks with different origins.

As with all cocktail histories, much of it is open to personal interpretation. Personally, I like to thank the prospector and bartender in Martinez for the origins, and many excellent bartenders who have moulded the drink into many different, brilliant, variations since then.

Most older recipes call for twice as much vermouth as gin, but due to the sweetness of Jensen’s old-style Old Tom gin, we’ll use a more modern ratio to balance it out, and throw in some dry vermouth as well.

For one Martinez cocktail:

• 40ml Jensen’s Old Tom Gin
• 10ml Rosso Vermouth
• 5ml Dry Vermouth
• 2.5ml Maraschino Liqueuer
• 1 dash Orange Bitters

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Half-fill with ice. Stir for 15-20 seconds, then fine-strain into a pre-chilled coupe or martini glass (a wine glass or small rocks glass would also do fine). Garnish with a maraschino cherry or a twist of lemon peel, depending on whatever takes your fancy!

The Martini

The Martini is always made with Gin. Usually, London Dry Gin. A “Vodka Martini”, is a very similar drink, but there has been a long debate over whether it should be allowed to call itself “Martini” at all. Some simply call it a “Vodkatini”. Others call it a “Kangaroo”… no, I don’t know why either.

The Dry Martini, at a 5:1 ratio is probably the best known and most widely served. It’s certainly how I prefer it. Most of the time you’ll see it served as just Gin, Vermouth & a twist of lemon peel, but an older more traditional recipe called for a dash or orange bitters as well. I sometimes serve mine with a twist of lime instead. Of all the cocktails, the Martini most certainly has the most variations, and many of them take the name of a famous chatracter from History who supposedly enjoyed them.

Unlike James Bond, who has caused much controversy for the way he orders his Vodka Martini, a Gin Martini is never shaken… of course you could, and frankly it makes very little difference, but cocktail geeks around the world love to argue over whether or not it “bruises” the gin. The one difference it does make, is that shaking aerates the cocktail, while stirring leaves the liquid thicker and smoother. Personally, I think it’s ever so slightly nicer to stir.

For all martinis, follow these directions:

Add all the liquid ingredients to a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Half-fill with ice. Stir with a bar spoon for 15-20 seconds. Fine-strain into a pre-chilled Martini glass, or coupe.

Make any 2 of the following, and you should have enough ingredients left over to make a half-sized version of 1 or 2 more. Try one with the leftover Old Tom to taste the difference, or mix both gins for a hybrid martini!

The Classic Dry Martini

• 40ml Bermondsey Dry Gin
• 8ml Dry Vermouth
• 1 dash orange bitters
• Twist of lemon peel to garnish​

One of my favourite bars, “Dry Martini” in Barcelona is famous for making their martinis to this classic recipe, including the orange bitters. They have the recipe in large lettering on a mirror in the center of the bar.

The Wet Martini

• 40ml Gin
• 30ml Dry Vermouth
• Twist of lemon peel to garnish.​

No bitters in this, as the aim is for a slightly sweeter, but still dry drink that tastes far more of vermouth that the dry martini. Many people much prefer a wet martini, especially if a strong taste of alcohol isn’t your thing.

The Roosevelt Martini

• 40ml Gin
• 8ml Dry Vermouth
• 2 Green Olives to garnish..

Attributed to the US President, who is said to have ordered his martinis with 2 olives.

The Gibson Martini

• 40ml Gin
• 8ml Dry Vermouth
• Pickled onion to garnish​

Another 5:1 ratio martini, but with a pickled onion instead of an olive. Disgusting, if you ask me.

Charles Dana Gibson produced hugely popular pen-and-ink drawings between the 1890s and 1930s. His illustrations of girls were as iconic as modern-day supermodels, and it is said this drink was named after the well-endowed Gibson Girls – hence the two onions. Gibson was a member of New York’s The Players Club and a bartender there by the name of Charley Connolly is credited for at least adding the garnish, if not actually creating the drink.

The Smoky Martini

• 40ml Gin
• 10ml Dry Vermouth
• 5ml Smoky scotch whisky (Lagavulin 16yr old is a great option)
• Twist of lemon peel to garnish

The Dirty Martini

• 40ml Gin
• 8ml Dry Vermouth
• 4ml Olive brine form the jar
• Green Olive to garnish.

The Churchill Martini

• 40ml Gin
• Twist of lemon peel to garnish

Chill the gin very well by stirring with ice. Briefly glance at an unopened bottle of vermouth on the other side of the room. Pour the gin into the glass and drink.

Apparently this is how Winston Churchill liked his “Martini” served. I wouldn’t want to argue…