Make Your Martini a Deluxe Martini

Another no-bitters version with just two easy-to-find ingredients.

In last week’s newsletter, we looked at a pair of no-bitters Martinis, including one that matches Beefeater with an unusual vermouth: Martini Reserva Speciale Ambrato. 

It’s a truly delicious rendition of a classic drink, but for those with limited refrigerator space or budgets, it can be a tough call, because it requires a vermouth that is rarely if ever used in other cocktails. 

However, if you’re looking for a similar sort of Martini with a somewhat less obscure ingredient in the vermouth spot, there is an alternative: the Martini Deluxe. 

This drink comes from our go-to mid-century cocktail book, David Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, and it calls for using Lillet Blanc, a vermouth-like aromatized wine in the vermouth slot. 

You can make the drink exactly as Embury describes, with seven parts gin to one part Lillet. 

However, it won’t taste quite like the version Embury made for himself and his guests so many decades ago, because the formula for Lillet has, somewhat infamously, changed since Embury’s time. In place of Lillet, you can use Cocchi Americano, a similar aromatized wine with a slightly more pronounced bitter backbone that reportedly tastes more like the Lillet of yore. 

Unlike the Speciale Ambrato, you’ll use the Cocchi Americano in other cocktails, like the Corpse Reviver No. 2. 

Like the Speciale Ambrato, though, the Americano gives the drink both a spice-inflected sweetness and a hint of bitter that fills in for the role orange bitters might ordinarily play. The combo of gin and Cocchi Americano makes for an incredibly satisfying riff on a drink you probably already know pretty well.

And with just two ingredients, it’s quite easy to mix up at home, which is probably why Embury argued that home drink makers shouldn’t bother with dry vermouth/orange bitters Martinis at all, and should simply make Deluxe versions for their guests. 

As is almost always the case, Embury’s formula errs on the strong side, calling for seven parts gin to one part aromatized wine, and suggesting that a 10:1 ratio might work as well. 

I prefer to ease this down to a still kicky but not too aggressive 5:1. If the drink reads too sweet to you, increase the amount of gin or reduce the Cocchi Americano. 

Once again, a basic bottle of Beefeater works best here, but you can also use balanced, heavier-bodied dry gins like Ford’s, Sipsmith, Broker’s, and Boodle’s to excellent effect. I would stay away from more floral or lighter bodied gins — but it’s your drink, so make it however you want. 

Martini Deluxe 

• ½ ounce Cocchi Americano

• 2 ½ ounces dry gin (Beefeater) 

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. 

2. Add ice, then stir until thoroughly chilled. (Give this boozy drink a few extra stirs.) 

3. Strain into a chilled Martini glass. 

4. Garnish with a lemon peel.