The Connaught Bar Shares the Secret Behind The World’s Best Martini

When Agostino “Ago” Perrone was first tapped to head up the bar program at London’s Connaught Bar in 2008, he was given a month to craft the opening menu while the upscale Mayfair district hotel underwent a major renovation. The Connaught Martini was one of the first drinks to go on. 

Now in its 16th year, Connaught’s signature Martini has not only been a menu mainstay, but the accompanying tableside cocktail service — a choreographed ceremony performed from their famed glossy black Martini trolley — has cultivated its own legend in bar and hospitality circles. 

The Connaught Bar, known for its attention to detail, impeccable service, and fresh take on craft cocktails with a nod to the classics, has amassed an impressive array of awards since opening, including multiple Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards for the bar itself, as well as most recently International Bartender of the Year and International Bar Mentor in 2023 for staff members Giorgio Bargiani and Perrone, respectively. The venue has also won World’s Best Bar and Best Bar in Europe two years in a row as part of World’s 50 Best, and recently earned Best International Hotel Bar on Food & Wine’s list of 2024 Global Tastemakers. 

This April, the bar team added another feather to its cap with the debut of their first book, The Connaught Bar: Cocktail Recipes and Iconic Creations. Perrone and his team, including the Connaught’s assistant director of mixology, Bargiani and former bar manager, Maura Milia, worked with drinks historian Anistatia Miller to give a detailed account of the Connaught Bar’s inception and the particulars that make it hum. Also included in the book are 100 cocktail recipes, many of which have helped to define the London drinking destination. 

The Connaught Martini is front and center of the book, of course.

While visiting the U.S. during their recent book tour, Perrone and Bargiani sat down to discuss the Connaught Bar’s devotion to detail, how they straddle providing a theatrical and highly technical experience for the guest, and the secrets behind their award-winning Martini service.

Hospitality is in the details

“It’s very, very, well-curated, in every single detail,” says Perrone, referring to Connaught Bar’s approach to hospitality. “We work a lot on our body language, on how we communicate with each other, the way we serve the drinks. It’s all done in a very subtle and elegant way, so the eyes are pleased before [the] nose starts to smell the cocktail and [the] lips start to drink the cocktail.”

“We always say it doesn’t matter what you do, but how you do it,” adds Bargiani. “Technique, ingredients, and knowledge…all [of] these elements, they work together to make what we do memorable like an opera, like a ballet, like a movie.”

Both Perrone and Bargiani are originally from Italy, as is a good portion of the Connaught Bar staff. Hospitality, they say, is in their DNA. 

“We [put] a lot of attention on how we interact with our guests,” says Perrone. “We make sure that they feel they’re in a space where they feel comfortable.” He adds that there is a duality to how the Connaught Bar team works “which are the technical aspects and the theatrical aspects. It’s [both] elegant and curated.”

The Connaught Martini experience

“Every Martini experience takes about five minutes for each guest,” says Perrone. 

The Martini is a cornerstone of the Connaught Bar’s drinks program and is considered by many to be essential for first-time guests. In their book, the Connaught Martini kicks off the first chapter with its own dedicated section, set apart from the rest of the 100 cocktail recipes.

The Martini and their storied Bloody Mary (topped with celery foam) were some of the few cocktails from the bar’s original opening menu that have stood the test of time.

“They are very iconic,” says Perrone. “They’re the most classic of the culture and you want to represent them. You want to honor them in your menu, especially if you’re in a hotel bar, [and] especially if you’re in a hotel with a strong heritage and a great history.”

The Martini, and the tableside ceremony surrounding it, have become emblematic of the Connaught Bar’s approach to service.

“[Our] Martini was created, [and] is still after 16 years, to really value the guest,” says Perrone “Our aim always has been, and will be, to have the spotlight on you.” 

Putting the spotlight on the guest means turning Martini service into an interactive experience.

“In order to be memorable, the guest needs to feel [like] the protagonist of the moment,” says Bargiani “The guest is not just the spectator. It’s not just a chef’s table situation. [We] provide them choices, [and] put them in charge of what they’re drinking.” 

Bespoke bitters

The Martini is a simple balance of gin and dry vermouth with a touch of aromatic bitters. The latter ingredient, which acts as additional “seasoning,” is arguably the easiest way to personalize the drink. Service at the Connaught Bar includes offering an array of bitters that guests can choose from for a custom experience.

“There are five different [bitters that] elevate different aspects of the spirit, [whether it] is gin or vodka,” says Perrone. “We help you to find which is the best essence for you.” 

Bargiani explains that “the bitters are placed on [a small] card, [the guest] smells the card, and then picks the one they like the most,” while bartenders explain background information about each along the way.

When crafting the tableside Martini, generous portions of bitters are added directly to the cocktail glass, bypassing the mixing glass. 

“We don’t mix the bitter in the mixing glass. We place it in the glass” says Bargiani. This allows the tincture to bloom in the glass once the cocktail is poured in. 

The housemade bitters are lower in alcohol than a traditional Angostura and made with more dilution, resulting in a less astringent flavor profile.

“[The bitters] interact in the cocktail, they don’t break the structure, they become part of it,” says Perrone. 

The five tinctures on offer range from floral to woodsy, and spicy to tea-like. 

“Smelling it, you have a sensory experience,” says Bargiani. It’s meant to help determine what a guest is in the mood for.” He suggests that a guest might pick lavender because they are looking for “something calming” or “ginseng because it’s energizing.”

The bar’s signature Dr. Ago’s bitters, named after the master mixologist, presents distinct notes of ginseng and bergamot. 

“It was an evolution of the original bitters that we had on the trolley,” says Perrone. “When we designed Dr. Ago’s bitters, it was maybe 11 years ago. I think we switched from a grapefruit bitter and we wanted something a bit more exotic or unusual in the world of cocktails Now there are many bergamot liqueurs. It was very ahead of time as a flavor, but we wanted to use it because we wanted to have another essence that could be part of the experience.” 

Bergamot is also culturally relevant for the bar as it lends a “little bit of [an] Italian accent, and [at] the same time has a British connection, [with] the history of tea,” says Perrone.

The importance of vermouth

The house vermouth is also a distinct part of the Connaught Martini. It’s a blend of extra dry vermouth, a dry floral vermouth, and a bianco vermouth chosen by Perrone to reflect the perfect balance of botanicals, dryness, and notes of chocolate.

“Gin and vermouth is a marriage,” says Perrone. “You need to find the right two personalities [to go] together.

“This vermouth assemblage goes with almost every style of gin,” he continues. “Our Martini is five to one, [meaning] that five parts is spirit, [or] two and half ounces, [and] one part is vermouth, [or] half ounce. So the botanicals of the vermouth can function as the support [to] the botanicals of the gin. They elevate each other.” 

This house blend lends consistency to the bar’s Martini while also adding a signature touch.

“I would say that the vermouth assemblage in the Connaught Martini experience is like the Italian accent in the Connaught bar because it’s there and it’s not predominant but you feel it,” says Perrone.

Ordering a Martini can be intimidating, but according to Perrone, it can be one of the most approachable cocktails in its flexibility, because “you can change the ratio,” he says. “You can have gin or vodka, you can [have] blanco tequila as well. You still have a Martini in the end.” 

“This is one of the beautiful aspects as a guest that makes the Martini even more delicious and even more memorable,” says Perrone. “It is your Martini, by us, but you are part of it.”