Friday, June 19, marks National Martini Day. A martini is one of those drinks that has a reputation of its own — refined, classic, but perhaps also intimidating for the novice drinker to order. 

 

To prepare for the day, we spoke with Abi Rogne, Rock Town Distillery’s bar manager, about what someone needs to know about ordering a martini. 

 

“It’s the most personalized cocktail you can order,” Rogne said. 

 

There are a lot of questions a bartender may ask to make sure a guest is getting a classic martini they will like. 

 

George’s

 

The first thing you will need to specify is whether you want vodka or gin as the base spirit of the martini. Gin will give a floral, juniper taste to the drink, while vodka is more of a blank slate, allowing other flavors to shine through. 

 

The next step is specifying whether you want it dirty or not. Dirty refers to the amount of olive brine that a martini will have in it. The olive brine is sometimes switched out with other brines, such as pepperoncini or even pickle juice, depending on the place. 

 

Next, let the bartender know how dry you want your drink. The dryness of the martini is determined by the amount of vermouth in it. The drier the martini, the less vermouth it has in it. So an extra dry martini will have no vermouth. It is also common to ask the bartender for a vermouth “rinse,” meaning the bartender will coat the glass with a bit of vermouth, giving it the smallest hint of that flavor. 

While ordering the martini, you will also want to let the bartender know how you want it prepared, which affects how icy or diluted the martini will be. This is the part where you get to channel James Bond and say if you want it shaken or stirred. 

 

Guisinger Cocktail Club

 

Ordering a shaken martini means that the bartender will put all the martini elements into a shaker with ice. While shaking it, the ice gets broken down into the drink and chills it. 

 

“It all has to do with dilution,” Rogne said. “Shaken means you want it super, super cold, and you don’t want it to taste like straight up liquor; you want it a little bit diluted with the water from that ice.”

 

Getting it stirred means it will not be diluted by ice, and therefore the spirits will taste stronger. 

 

There are also ways to specify how much ice a bartender should strain out of the drink if you get it shaken. Ordering the martini with “ducks on the pond” means you want a small layer of ice chips on the top of the martini. Rogne said that some younger people have been saying, “make it skate,” when they want it to have ice on top. However, this is a less common phrase that some bartenders may not know. 

 

The Ohio Club

 

The last step is to top it off with a garnish, traditionally olives or a lemon rind. Some bars may use cocktail onions or olives stuffed with blue cheese. You could also skip the garnish altogether. 

 

So let’s take that all for a spin, shall we? 

 

Rogne herself likes a martini that really lets the olive brine shine, and she wants it to be super cold. This means her go-to order is an “extra dirty vodka martini, ducks on the pond, rinse of vermouth, olive garnish,” she said. 

 

If all this still feels overwhelming, it will get easier with practice. A good bartender should ask questions, and the guest should not be afraid to get specific with what they want, Rogne said. 

 

The Blind Bear

 

“I don’t expect you to tell me every detail,” she said. “I ask you for every detail. Don’t be shy to tell your bartender that you don’t like your drink. We don’t want you to have a bad time. We want you to sit and enjoy it.” 

 

If all this talk of martinis has left you thirsty, here are some places around Arkansas that you can go to get one (or two or three). 

 

Attic Bar (Little Rock)

 

Allsopp & Chapple (Little Rock)

 

BCW (Little Rock)

 

Brood and Barley (North Little Rock)

 

The Blind Bear (Springdale)

 

Capital Hotel (Little Rock)

 

Copper Mule Table + Tap (Bryant)

 

George’s (Little Rock) 

 

Guisinger Cocktail Club (Fayetteville)

 

Lady Slipper (Bentonville)

 

Lefty’s on the Square (Magnolia)

 

The Ohio Club (Hot Springs)

 

Rock Town Distillery (Little Rock) 

 

Rex’s Restaurant (Little Rock)

 

Rober :: Cocktails + Culinary (Benton)

 

The Rooftop Bar (Hot Springs)

 

Samantha’s Tap Room & Wood Grill (Little Rock)

 

Sidecar Cocktail Lounge (Fayetteville)

 

Vault (Hot Springs)

 

Don’t see your go-to martini place on the list? Let us know where else to go in the comment section of this post on social media!

 

Feature Photo Credit: Rock Town Distillery/Facebook
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