Fragata

When is a martini not a martini?

Did you know that a classic Martini cocktail isn’t a true martini, unless it’s served with an olive in it?

This combination of gin and vermouth, finished off with an olive, was first pioneered in the US in the late 19th Century. Although its origins aren’t clear, some sources suggest that we’ve been enjoying Martinis for over 150 years! That’s definitely the case here at Fragata, we love our cocktails!
So, how to make the perfect martini? Well, there are three essential ingredients – Gin, Vermouth and a juicy, hand-picked, Spanish green olive from our Andalucian olive groves. Serve one part Vermouth to three parts of Gin. To make a vodka martini, as popularised by James Bond, simply replace the gin with Vodka.

Preparing a classic martini cocktail is very straightforward:

Pour the gin and vermouth into a mixing glass
Fill with ice cubes
Stir or shake – you choose!
Strain into a classic martini glass
Add a Fragata green olive and serve
Shaking the cocktail rather than stirring it helps to keep the drink as cold as possible, many fans of martinis prefer to drink them when they are ice cold.

Some think that the olive helps to add flavour to the drink while other olive lovers consider the alcohol in the drink to enhance the taste of the olive. It is customary when drinking a martini to save the olive until the very end of the drink, ensuring that it has had plenty of time to absorb the gin.

There are lots of different variations on the classic martini cocktail – a dirty martini, for example is created by adding olive juice as well as the olive to create a cloudy drink.

Some bar tenders replace the olive with a small onion to create a variation call a Gibson. So now you know, only genuine martini cocktails feature (Spanish) olives!