A while back I wrote the history as I could see it of a few drinks. They included a brief introduction, a list of ingredients, how to make them, and a short history of the drink its self. Here is the first of those I hope you enjoy it.
Introduction
The history of the Martini is quite the tale. Slowly, over decades the cocktail that we now know as the Martini came to be. It would have many transformations, variations, names, and gain generations of loyal followers. Its creation would be widely disputed and even now there is no definitive answer. It wasn’t hard to find a history of the Martini. The problem was I found too many. There are four drinks deserving of the spot this week: The Martinez, the great grandfather of the Martini, The Martini (Classic), a drink that holds a special place in the hearts of purist, and The Martini (Contemporary), and the Vodka Martini the Martini that holds the name MARTINI now. For good or for bad these are the three lives of the Martini.
Cocktail(s)
Martinez
2oz sweet vermouth
1oz Old Tom gin (a sweetened variant)
two dashes maraschino cherry liquid
one dash bitters
Shake with ice, strain, and serve with a twist of lemon
Martini (Classic)
1 ½ oz gin
½ oz dry vermouth
Stir with ice cubes, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive or a twist of lemon.
Martini (Contemporary)
1 2/3 oz gin
1/3 oz dry vermouth
1 olive
Stir gin and vermouth with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a cocktail glass, add the olive, and serve.
Vodka Martini
1 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 oz dry vermouth
Shake vodka and vermouth together with several ice cubes in a shaker. Strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with an olive and serve.
History
It is rumored that it all started with the Martinez. The Martinez is an older sweeter cocktail most likely invented in Martinez, California. A commemoration to the Martini is found there at the corner of Alhambra and Masonic. It was said that Jerry Tomas, also known as the “professor”, created the drink for a buddy of his to keep him warm on his daily trip from the hotel Occidental to Martinez, the old state capitol of California. It is believed that the classic martini sprang from this drink and contrary to popular belief actually had a slice of lemon in it, not an olive. The popularity of the olive that is found in most Martinis today is still unexplained. In time the Martini raised the gin content and lowered the vermouth to obtain a dryer drink. The contemporary Martini is much dryer then its father the Martini and no where near as sweet as his great grandfather, the Martinez. This is probably because the classic Martini was big in the time of prohibition because bathtub gin was considerably easier to make then whiskey which took time to age and a bigger facility to create. When prohibition ended gin could be made in a higher quality and so vermouth’s role was diminished as the sweetener of the drink. The hipster crowd of today would not be satisfied by the change though and recently The Vodka Martini has become the premier Martini. The Vodka Martini is what most people think of when they order a Martini from a bar. The taste is smoother and considered sweeter. Martini enthusiasts don’t believe a Vodka Martini should be a Martini at all. They claim that a Martini must have Gin. Perhaps the Martini of the old days will rule once again in a backlash against the current hipster society. One thing is for certain though. The Martini has transcended time and changed with society. It will always hold a special place in the history of the United States. H.L Mencken once called the Martini “the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet”.
