Martini: the adulterer’s cocktail of choice

Alex Renton of the London Times explains how to make the sophisticated drink, and looks back at its origins and its role in taboo rumpy-bumpy.

Artwork by Steve Forney (click to purchase)

If you believe this and other dramas set in middle-class, suburban Fifties America, people’s main activity after adultery seemed to be the making and the drinking of dry Martinis. It is amazing how much they drank. It must have helped with the adultery.
His researched advice includes putting the gin and the glasses in the freezer a whole 24 hours before consumption (which, I guess, rules out quickies), avoid Martini brand vermouth and go for Noilly Prat, and run a lemon peel around the rim instead of dropping it into the glass.
The volume of the vermouth component is widely disputed, from 1/6th of the gin or vodka to just waving it in front of the glass.
What isn’t disputed is a Martini’s effectiveness as “panty remover” — after three, I unexpectedly find my panties on the floor.
Source: Times Online