We cannot stress this enough: stir your martinis! Drinks with many ingredients, or citrus juice in them, are shaken to make sure everything is blended properly. Shaking results in over aerating and possibly ice chips in your cocktail. A martini, featuring only one spirit and vermouth, needs only to be stirred. Grab a bunch of ice and stir for a minute or two. Really.
One of the true tests of vodka (and to some extent gin) quality is to see how it holds up in classic recipes. Thanks to the silky mouthfeel created by it’s precious metal filtration, a martini made with Heart of Gold is rich and silky, while providing the taste you expect from this classic cocktail. The gin version? Even better. The vermouth softens the botanicals in East Side Gin, making a perfectly mellow martini.
The most popular origin story of the Martini comes from the most famous brand of Vermouth, Martini & Rossi. At some point, somebody splashed the vermouth into some gin, and when pressed for a name, that mystery person looked at the vermouth bottle, and said, "It's a Martini!"