I have a confession to make: I have fallen for the vodka Martini. Which is hard for someone born in the same city as London Dry Gin to admit. The conviction among my British peers always used to be that a proper Martini was made with gin; that the American taste for vodka Martinis (that are shaken – the horror!) was a little bit basic. But our tastes, it seems, are changing. Fatigued by a deluge of novelty gins, bar-goers are now seeking a new kind of minimalism.
A vodkatini at Dukes bar in London
“If you said ‘vodka Martini’ when I was coming up as a bartender, they would kick your ass,” says Alessandro Palazzi, manager of Dukes bar, one of the most vaunted Martini destinations in the world. “But luckily that’s changed as there are now some excellent vodkas around. I prefer Polish rye vodkas such as Potocki, because of their beautiful, nutty, flavour.” He likes his Vodkatini scented with four Amalfi lemon zests.
Truman Vodka
Price: $53.99 for 75cl
