Name: Dry Martini 'Preferred' (5:1 ratio)
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 75 ml Gin; 15 ml Dry vermouth; 1 dash Orange bitters

Dry Martini 'Preferred' (5:1 ratio)
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Glass:

Serve in a Martini glass

Ingredients:
2 ¹⁄₂ fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin from freezer
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth chilled
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura optional

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a MARTINI GLASS.
Prepare garnish of skewered chilled green olive &/or lemon zest twist (or served Dicken's-style without a garnish).

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

EXPRESS lemon zest &/or garnish with chilled olive (or serve Dicken's-style).

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Dry Martini 'Preferred' (5:1 ratio) lifestyle thumbnail

Cocktail of the day:

22nd May 2026 is National Craft Distillery Day

Review:

This is my go-to Dry Martini. I chose a 5:1 ratio as our 'preferred' Dry Martini specification in deference to David Embury who writes of this cocktail in his The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, "After extensive experimentation I have arrived at the ratio of 5 to 1 as the proportion most pleasing to the average palate. Personally I like a ratio of about 7 to 1 even better, and I know some who prefer a ratio as high as 10 to 1."

View readers' comments

Variations/similar cocktails:

Other Dry Martini ratios, from 1:1 to 15:1 parts gin to vermouth.

History:

See the History and Evolution of the Dry Martini.

Nutrition:

One serving of Dry Martini 'Preferred' (5:1 ratio) contains 183 calories

Alcohol content:

1.9 standard drinks
29.37% alc./vol. (58.74° proof)
26.6 grams of pure alcohol

More Classic/vintage cocktails
More Hall of Fame & must know/try cocktails
More Martini-style cocktails

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 24 comments for Dry Martini 'Preferred' (5:1 ratio).
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Florian Ruf

17th July at 17:15

Excellent ratio which makes a delicious cocktail, I used Haymans and Noilly Prat. I am really not a martini fanatic or specialist. But if you are and have the chance to, go to Atlas bar in Singapore and try their Atlas Martini. Besides the setting I can recommend also the rest of the cocktail menu 😏.

Sally Morgan

6th February at 22:01

I'm late to the martini party, but was looking for a mix that really showcased a classic martini. This did not disappoint - worth splashing out on some excellent gin and channelling your inner (or outer) Noel Coward. He would thoroughly approve.

Chris Dimal

11th December 2025 at 17:13

Not too bad. I think a more assertive vermouth (so not something traditional like Dolin) is preferable here.

Dave D.

20th June 2025 at 18:34

I’m 9/10 times a 5:1 guy…..always fits nicely into my vintage cocktail glasses and stay chilled!
Doing a vesper I end up 4.5 ozs. And shake the heck out of it and then fill my larger martini glasses!

Paul Belczowski

16th August 2024 at 09:56

I've shared my thoughts here before, and I still love this recipe. However, I've recently found my go-to dry martini combo that I can't get enough of:

60 ml London Dry Gin (currently using Tanqueray for its versatility)
15 ml Dolin Dry Vermouth
4 green olives on a skewer
I let a few drops of olive juice fall into the glass from the spoon while garnishing. To me, this makes an immaculate martini. I highly recommend trying this 4:1 ratio. Enjoy!

Peter Shaw

6th April at 06:32

Dear Paul - have you also tried splitting your gin? I like a 50:50 of Plymouth and Tanq Ten.

1 reply

John CARR

11th September 2024 at 14:53

Have you tried 4.5:1 ? I find it works very well and balanced the ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ qualities very well. Simon’s suggestion of one dash orange bitters also adds an extra dimension. Bitter truth bitters tend to be more nuanced here where there’s so few ingredients to horses amongst.

1 reply

John CARR

19th June 2024 at 13:53

This is a very nice martini. Can taste both the gin botanicals and the vermouth (I love vermouth), and the dash of bitters adds a brilliant kick. Lemon twist for me. Happy World martini day everyone!

Nicholas Finlay

6th April 2024 at 13:51

Beautiful Martini glass - anyone know where to buy?

Simon Difford

6th April 2024 at 17:35

It was an Urban Bar glass, but sadly, it's no longer made.

G. M. Genovese

28th March 2024 at 18:47

I prefer a 3:1 Martini w/ Regan's No 6... I made this one off of the Montgomery's 15:1 Martini off here, which I thought tasted like tainted gin, which wasn't overall bad, but required more... Dumped the diluted leftovers into a coupe and added the required measure of Noilly Prat dry to get this to the above specs and, oh my, was it nice. Not that I can easily reproduce the diluted balance. But this blend begged for olive brine... This be my Dirty Martini template going forward.