After weeks of heated competition, Martini Madness has come to a close with one drink beating out all the rest to take this year’s top spot. (If you haven’t seen the winner, we won’t spoil it here, so click through to the full bracket). As with the annual basketball tournament, there were a few nail-biters and close calls, but we managed to push through and crown just one champion.
Martini Madness is a labor of love. The VinePair team is passionate about our home base, New York City, and the cocktails, bars, and drinkers here. We’ve now sampled nearly 100 of the city’s top Martinis, so we’ve learned a thing or two about what makes a great one and where the category is trending (surprisingly, toward seafood). You already know we started with 32 ’tinis and tasted our way to a victor, but here are the rest of the numbers behind Martini Madness 2026.
25
Gin is clearly still the spirit of choice for on-menu Martinis. We sampled 25 different examples of the botanical liquor including the top-shelf Bombay Sapphire 1er Cru at Delmonico’s plus overproof and fat-washed varieties. Interestingly, the only name-checked gin that appeared more than once on our list is Fords Gin, a spirit created by bartenders for bartenders that many love. It’s a juniper- and coriander-forward blend that’s been called “the bartender’s Swiss Army knife,” so we’re not surprised three Martinis we tried this year called for it.
7
In sharp contrast, only seven vodkas were accounted for in our bracket. Haku, the Japanese rice-based spirit that bartenders recommend for mixing in cocktails, showed up in two drinks, but no other brand was repeated. The most memorable vodka was probably the pungent, Roquefort-washed Kettle One in the Blue Cheese Martini at Chez Fifi. Of note: One Martini this year was based on an aquavit crafted especially for the Dirty Gertie at Gertrude’s.
Credit: Joanna Sciarrino
3
Three Martinis used both gin and vodka in their builds, like the notable Dukes Martini at Red Hook Tavern, which pairs exceptionally well with the restaurant’s famously juicy burger.
7
Another seven drinks let the consumer pick if they prefer gin or vodka when they order, though our team leaned towards’ gin for most of these. If you’re a seasoned Martini drinker who knows you prefer one or the other, try the inventive versions with your chosen spirit at Rose Marie or Wild Cherry or impeccable renditions of the classic at Birds or Bazaar Meat.
5
Martinis don’t often need inspiration outside of a hankering for an ice-cold sip, but five on our list take theirs from other savory foods. We tried versions channeling blue cheese, the Haitian condiment pikliz, pickled green tomatoes, pastrami, and pizza. Though blue cheese olives are a ’tini classic, the pickled green tomato rendition at Rose Marie and allusion to pizza at Flatiron Room made it the furthest in our bracket.
Credit: Stephen Bradley
8
Dirty Martinis are beloved as a salty, savory update on the classic, and we’ve sampled some excellent renditions throughout the years. This year, we encountered eight such types with brines both expected and new. Of course there was olive and pickle, but recipes also leaned on pickled tomato, pikliz, smoked olive, and cucumber brines for flavor. And that Green Tomato Martini at Rose Marie employs three housemade brines: tomato, olive, and pepperoncini.
6
A plump olive is a worthy companion to a Dry Martini, but a stuffed olive levels up the duo. We tried six different olives filled with goodness ranging from goat cheese to pickled celery to fresh coconut. If you really love a stuffed olive, the Smoked Dirty Martini at the Eighty Six features a trio with marcona almond, crème fraîche, and anchovy.
2
Oysters and Martinis are a perfect pairing, but oysters in Martinis? That wasn’t on our 2026 Martini Madness bingo card, yet we had two cocktails that utilized the bivalve. At Bistrot Ha, there’s a whole oyster meat in the bottom of the glass, but the more successful version at Wild Cherry includes an oyster-shell tincture made in-house for a can’t-put-your-finger-on-it dose of ocean that led the drink to our final four.
Credit: Stephen Bradley
21.41
That’s the average price of a Martini in this year’s bracket. It’s significantly lower in Brooklyn where the average was a more manageable $18. It’s clear that Manhattan drives up the price: Expect the most reasonable to be around $22. For a $15 drink, head to industry hangouts Chin Up Bar and Banshee in Lower Manhattan. If you really want to splurge, the Martini at Peacock Alley in the revamped Waldorf Astoria Hotel is $35 as part of a $75 minimum spend required with reservations. And the most frequently occurring price is $24, which is what you’ll pay for the featured Martinis at Flatiron Room, Chateau Royale, Seahorse, Seed Library, and the Eighty Six.
685
Add them all up and we spent $685 on Martinis for this competition. Thanks, VinePair!
The article We Just Drank 32 of NYC’s Best Martinis, Here’s What We Learned appeared first on VinePair.