And margaritas have no need of blenders.

When master mixologist Dale DeGroff is behind the bar, expect strong opinions — opinions backed by his encyclopedic knowledge of cocktail history, his discerning palate and his many years of crafting cocktails at New York's Rainbow Room.

DeGroff has been in and out of town in the past year as the Halekulani Hotel's consulting director of beverage arts, teaching both Halekulani staff and members of the public "The Craft of the Cocktail" — the title of his award-winning book on the subject.

Late last week, as he was readying for a series of presentations on the Magnificent Martini, we asked DeGroff to share his recipe for a perfect martini.

This storied drink has more myths and stories behind it than a bar sink has ice cubes. But a classic martini is a thing of great simplicity, with just two ingredients, gin (or vodka) and dry vermouth, plus garnish (olive, lemon). The difficulty is all in the execution.

"All I care about is that it be made properly — that is, with the right ingredients and icy, icy, icy," said DeGroff. "When it hits your tongue, it should be heavy, silky and very, very cold."

For this reason, DeGroff favors a stirred martini, rather than one shaken, as the fictional James Bond specified. "What do you do when you shake a drink? You create a lot of bubbles — and light and airy ain't no good for a martini." So save the shaker for fruitier, more sugary drinks, where the bubbles lighten the sweetness and prevent the drink from becoming cloying.

For the classic martini, the formula is 11 to 1 — 11 parts gin or vodka to one part dry vermouth.

Begin with the best-quality spirits you can afford (or the flavors you prefer). Be sure the vermouth is fresh; it's a wine, it can't sit for years in a cupboard. Buy vermouth in small quantities, store it in the refrigerator, use it within a month.

Beyond this, the operative word is cold: The glass should be chilled or frozen. The glass insert of the cocktail shaker should be chilled. Any garnish should be cold (he calls unchilled olives "heat bombs"). The ice used to chill the drink should be heavy, large and frozen solid.

DeGroff could do an hour's lecture on the subject of ice alone. He says most commercial icemakers today produce ice too quickly and in too small a shape, resulting in cubes that melt quickly, watering down drinks. He sounds positively nostalgic as he reminisces about the way the old-style, large, hard cubes would last for the length of a conversation in his old-days Scotch on the rocks, clinking satisfyingly as he brought the drink to his lips.

Ironically, he says, the home drink-maker has access to the best ice widely available: the stuff that's been frozen solid in ice trays in the home freezer. Just be sure the ice is relatively fresh and untainted by passed-on flavors.

DeGroff says the same rules apply to the whole family of flavored "-tinis" and vodka-based cocktails: The best ingredients you can afford. Fresh, natural fruit juices rather than flavored mixers. Good ice and plenty of it. Everything cold. Shake only if you a) enjoy the dramatics, or b) want to incorporate air and bubbles in the drink. Chill, mix and strain.

As garnish, DeGroff favors plain green olives (no pimiento, please) and swears by his channel knife — a handled spoon-like device with a sharp triangular blade in it that cuts cleanly into citrus peel.

Here's how to make the pure and simple martini of the 1960s two-martini lunch era:

CLASSIC MARTINI

• 2.5 ounces gin (or vodka)
• 0.5 ounce or less dry vermouth

Fill the glass insert of a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour gin (or vodka) and vermouth over the ice. Stir with long-handled spoon (30 times maximum with small ice cubes; up to 50 times with large, hard cubes). Strain into chilled glass. Garnish with chilled olive and a twist of lemon peel.

If you like it "a little dirty," blend a little olive pickling juice in with the gin or vodka and vermouth.

DeGroff's signature at the Halekulani is a version of the martini called the Flame of Love, invented for Dean Martin by DeGroff's friend Pepe Ruiz at Chasen's, a now-defunct Beverly Hills celebrity hangout. Martin was complaining that, unlike many of his friends, he'd never had a drink created for him. Ruiz concocted a version of the martini made with fino sherry (Tio Pepe or other brand) and a dramatic flamed orange peel garnish. Martin loved it.

FLAME OF LOVE

• 2 ounces gin (or vodka)
• 3-4 drops fino sherry
• Fresh orange peel

Fill a chilled shaker with ice, pour gin over. Pour sherry into a chilled glass and rotate to coat, then pour sherry into shaker.

Have ready a thin disc of fresh orange peel. Hold it just over the glass and squeeze in half as you light a match to the edge. Drop peel into glass; the orange oils will quickly flame up and die down. Discard burnt peel. Stir the sherry-gin mixture with ice and strain into glass. Garnish with a twist of fresh orange peel.