The Dukes Martini—murderously dry and cold—served at London’s eponymous hotel is famous worldwide and cherished by some as the definitive expression of the Martini. That assertion is highly debatable, but the drink is singular in its power and presentation.
“It’s a knockout drink,” says Giuseppe Gonzalez, who offered his smaller take on the drink at New York’s now-closed Suffolk Arms. “It’s six ounces of freaking alcohol [and] a dash of vermouth. It’s frozen at sub-zero. It sits like milk because it’s so cold. Halfway through you feel drunk. There’s no dilution. It’s the equivalent of three three-ounce Martinis.”