The 50/50: The Gentler Martini Riff For Beginners

The martini can pack a serious punch, both in terms of alcohol content and intensity of flavor. Mixing gin or vodka with dry vermouth (and, if you please, olive brine), it's served ice cold, often in a Nick and Nora or its now-signature V-shaped cocktail glass. Though the tipple is undoubtedly a classic, it can sometimes prove too strong for some drinkers. And even seasoned martini drinkers might shy away from the drink at times owing to its high ABV. Luckily, there are a number of variations on the martini that make it customizable to anyone's tastes, and one in particular is perfect for those seeking out subtler sips.

The 50/50 martini is precisely what it sounds like – a martini that is half gin or vodka and half dry vermouth, with a dash of orange bitters. This tilts the drink away from its typical gin or vodka-heavy base, which commonly contains between two and five parts hard liquor to dry vermouth. The smoother 50/50 martini, meanwhile, lets the vermouth shine. It has a warm herbaceousness thanks to the fortified wine's infusion of ingredients like anise, cardamon, and cinnamon. The drink also has a hint of zingy brightness from the orange bitters, and you can play up this citrus note even more by adding a lemon or orange peel garnish, which will express the fruit's fragrant oils. You can also go a more traditional route by garnishing the cocktail with one or two (or five) olives.

The origins of the 50/50 martini are a bit muddled. Early versions of the drink can be found in the "New and Improved Bartender's Manual," first published by bartender Harry Johnson in 1888. The drink isn't called a 50/50 martini in the book, but rather a "Martini cocktail," and it isn't an exact copy of the present day 50/50 martini, either. It does call for equal parts gin and sweet vermouth, with the addition of Boker's bitters, gum syrup, curaçao, and a cherry garnish. This variation, as you can imagine, is on the sweeter side and doesn't have quite the same balance of the 50/50. The modern version of the drink — lemon peel garnish and all — was popularized by Audrey Saunders in the early aughts at the now-closed Pegu Club in New York City and relies on a shot each of gin and vermouth, plus the signature dash of orange bitters that uniquely ties everything together.

You may be wondering how the 50/50 martini differs from a wet martini. Although the latter opts for less gin or vodka and more vermouth, there's more wiggle room when it comes to the amount of fortified wine used. One popular ratio is 2 to 1 liquor to vermouth, making the 50/50 wetter than the average wet martini. Thanks to its much lower alcohol content, it's the perfect cocktail for those who want the experience of drinking a martini without the sharp boozy bite.