50/50 Martini

Gin and dry vermouth in equal parts — the 1880s original ratio before progressive 20th-century drying, Hemingway specifying fifteen-to-one.

The 50/50 Martini uses equal parts gin and dry vermouth — a ratio that reflects the cocktail's documented history before the mid-20th century's progressive drying out of the formula reduced vermouth from a major component to a symbolic rinse. The Martini's origin has been traced to the 1880s and 1890s through multiple competing accounts, with the earliest published recipes appearing in American bartending guides from that era specifying roughly equal proportions of gin and vermouth, sometimes with a dash of orange bitters. The cocktail's gradual drying — the shift from equal parts to two-to-one, then four-to-one, then the extreme preparations favored by mid-century drinkers who essentially removed vermouth from the formula entirely — was documented through the early and mid-20th century. Winston Churchill reportedly preferred his Martini by bowing toward France in the direction of the vermouth bottle; FDR mixed them at the White House with minimal vermouth; Ernest Hemingway described a fifteen-to-one ratio. The craft cocktail revival of the late 1990s and 2000s systematically recovered vermouth as a serious ingredient, promoting fresh, quality vermouth stored properly and used in meaningful quantities. The 50/50 Martini is the most direct expression of this rehabilitation — equal parts gin and dry vermouth in the proportion that was standard before fashion stripped the cocktail of its structural complexity.