Essentially a Martini with inverted proportions, the Astoria, named after the New York City hotel where it was created, is one of many vermouth-heavy Martini variations that were popular from the late eighteenth century on through the first half of the twentieth century. Our version, which was adapted from The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, swaps out Old Tom gin for London dry, and ups the vermouth for a slightly drier take on the original.
Reprinted with permission from Session Cocktails by Drew Lazor and the Editors of PUNCH, copyright © 2018. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House.