It seems wherever you can get a great martini these days, the soothing drams are being served colder and colder. Top honors may belong to London’s Bob Bob Ricard, where managing director Richard Logins spent over a month perfecting the aptly named World’s Coldest Martini, chilled to minus 7.6 degrees Fahrenheit—the point just before vodka freezes and turns into slush. While doing research, Logins tested drinks at other watering holes with a thermometer, calculating an average of 17.6 degrees. “Only one bar had minus 12 [Celsius, or 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit], and I was like, ‘OK, this is cold,’ ” he tells Robb Report. Bob Bob Ricard’s even-colder version has become a bestseller, delivered to guests with white-glove service up to 300 times a week.
Producing a superlatively cold martini is more than just an exercise in marketing or a way to claim bragging rights. “It’s such a texturally potent and memorable drink,” explains Cody Pruitt, a co-owner of New York City’s Chateau Royale. “And the colder the alcohol is, the more velvety—or almost silky or milky—the texture can be.”
Pruitt estimates he serves just over 250 martinis on a busy night. The prebatched cocktails are stored in dedicated freezers set at 10 degrees, some hidden behind custom millwork so the drinks don’t warm up while being shepherded to your table. Garnishes come on the side so that a room-temp lemon peel or olive won’t ruin the chill.
