Today, "Extra Dry" is basically a wink. It says, "I want gin. And maybe a ghost of vermouth." Some bartenders just rinse the glass with vermouth and dump it out. It's a ritual, not a recipe.
Why? Because people got scared of vermouth. In the mid-20th century, cheap, stale vermouth gave it a bad name. So we overcorrected. Now "dry" means gin-only territory.
Here's a quirky fact: The late, great bartender Gary Regan called the Extra Dry Martini "a glass of cold gin." He wasn't wrong. It's almost a naked spirit.
The Shaken vs. Stirred Circus
James Bond made "shaken, not stirred" iconic. But pro bartenders hate shaking a martini. Shaking adds tiny ice shards and air bubbles. It makes the drink cloudy and slightly watery. Stirring keeps it silky and clear.
Does it matter for an Extra Dry? Not really. If there's almost no vermouth, you're basically shaking cold gin. But try telling that to a cocktail snob. They'll give you a lecture longer than the drink itself.
Martini Extra Dry Coctel at Michael Hancock blog
Fun fact: Winston Churchill’s idea of an Extra Dry Martini was just cold gin. He said, "I would like to glance at the vermouth bottle from across the room." That's peak Extra Dry logic.
