Bronx Cocktail

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. In a cocktail shaker, pour the gin, dry and sweet vermouth, and orange juice. Fill with ice.

3. Shake well.

4. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

5. Garnish with the orange slice. Serve and enjoy.

Choose Your Gin

Though it's not as crucial as it is in the original martini, choosing a top-shelf gin will make a better Bronx cocktail. The orange juice will cover up some impurities, but the real beauty here is tasting how the fruit plays off the botanicals in both the gin and vermouth.

With each new gin you pour, you'll experience subtle differences in the flavor, so have fun exploring your options. London dry gins will be a full-forced botanical array while softer gins like Aviation or Hendricks will impart their own unique flavors. Don't rule out genever, Old Tom Gin, or Plymouth Gin, either. These old-school gins were used a lot back in the golden era of the bar, so they're a perfect match for this classic recipe.

Vermouth Matters

Beyond the recommendation of choosing quality dry and sweet vermouth, it's also good to remember that it goes bad. If you make a few martinis here and there, you might not use up a bottle before the flavor begins to turn. This can make a big difference in the taste of your Bronx.

Generally, the shelf-life on a bottle of vermouth is three months and it should be refrigerated. To help you remember when you opened it, write the month and year on the label with a permanent marker before putting it away.

Fresh OJ

Since the orange juice plays such a prominent role in the Bronx, consider fresh-squeezed orange juice for this recipe. The freshness it brings to the drink instantly upgrades the entire experience. You should be able to get enough juice for two or three drinks out of a single orange.

In the least, choose a high-quality juice from the store to match the quality of the other ingredients you selected.