This is a perhaps-inevitable iteration of the continuing evolution of the Dry Martini in American bartending. Legend has it that during the Trinity event - the first testing of an atomic device - a bottle of vermouth was hidden in the tower with the gadget itself. As a result, there is a definite statistical chance of literally-atomized vermouth present over much of the region, if not the atmosphere - so one could now make the definitive, Atomic Age dry martini in the following manner:

  • Chill a martini glass well.
  • Shake 1 oz. gin with cracked ice.
  • Open window.
  • Wave glass outside, knowing that a few atoms of vermouth will settle into the glass.
  • Pour gin into glass.
  • Garnish.
et voila. This recipe was revealed to the world in a 1966 edition of the Sunday Boston Globe. Given J. Robert Oppenheimer's prediliction for the martini, its veracity has not been questioned.

Sources: American Heritage magazine, 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos (Simon & Schuster, April 2005). Anecdote mentioned in Vermouth, unbeknownst to me before polluting the nodegel with this offering.

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