How to Create a Citrus Twist

There are a few different garnishes when making a classic gin or vodka Martini.  Originally the olive was added by Robert Agneau to mask the taste of pour American gin and dry vermouth.  Another acceptable garnish is the lemon twist.  This is how it’s done.

By using your channel knife, dig the tooth of the channel knife into the flesh of the citrus, either a lemon or a lime, and start to create a long citrus channel, or what will be a twist.  Some people compare it to the action of peeling a potato.

When you have completed one revolution of the lemon or lime, pinch it off with your index finger, and give the citrus string a good twist in a coil motion.  Once you have the twist, hold it over the cocktail, and pull at both ends of the twist.  This will release the essential oils over the cocktail, adding a hint of lemon flavour to the Martini.

Perhaps the most famous cocktail ever made with a lemon twist is the “Vesper”, aka the James Bond Martini.

Bond names his favourite Martini and procedure after the female double agent Vesper Lynd of Casino Royale.

The famous recipe calls for:

3 parts Gin

1 part Vodka

1/2 part dry vermouth

Shaken hard with a lemon twist.

This movie and Martini inspired movie goers and cocktail enthusiasts everywhere to to visit their favourite watering hole, sidle up to the bar and say, “I’ll have a Martini, shaken…not stirred!”

I feel it necessary to mention that classic gin or vodka Martinis are  to be stirred, not shaken as shaking will bruise the spirit, and allow ice shards to pass through the strainer into the cocktail.  Also, when cocktails are shaken, they become cloudy because of air that is added to the mix during agitation.  Classic Martinis are to be served chilled, and crystal clear.

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