Martini Cocktail

Revision as of 14:03, 19 June 2010

The Martini Cocktail consists of varying degrees of gin and vermouth.

"There is no sugar in a martini; no egg whites, no black and white rums, no shaved almonds, no fruit juice, no chocolate, and no spices.... It is a clear, clean, cold, pure, honest drink ..."

- Donald G. Smith, Wall Street Journal

Earliest References

"The Moder Bartender's Guide" by O.H. Byron features a recipe for a drink called a "Martinez," described as a Manhattan made with gin instead of whiskey.

30 June 1887, BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, pg. 2: "aye, even sample the bewildering depths of the "Martini cocktail,"

Harry Johnson (1882) - Martini Cocktail.

Historical Recipes

"Wehmann's Bartenders Guide" by Henry J.Wehmann (1891)

Martini Cocktail

• (Use large bar glass)
• Fill the glass with ice
• 2 or 3 dashes Gum Syrup
• 2 or 3 dashes Bitters
• 1 dash of Curacoa
• 1/2 wine glassful of old Tom Gin
• 1/2 wine glassful of vermouth

Stir well with a spoon, strain into cocktail glass, squeeze a piece of lemon peel on top, and serve

Common Recipes

Recipe#1: Cocktaildb.com

• Stir in mixing glass with ice & strain
• 1 3/4 oz gin (5 cl, 7/16 gills)
• 3/4 oz dry vermouth (2 cl, 3/16 gills)
• Add olive (or lemon twist)
• Serve in a cocktail glass

Recipe#2: Dale DeGroff, King Cocktail.

• 3 oz. Gin or Vodka
• 1 Dash Dry French Vermouth

Stir or shake as your heart or James tells you and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a small pitted Spanish cocktail olive, no matter what they tell you in Texas.

Recipe#3: Gary Regan.

• 3 ounces gin or vodka
• 1/4 to 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
• Olive or lemon twist for garnish

Pour the gin or vodka and the vermouth into an ice-filled mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Stir well for 20 to 30 seconds, or shake well for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a well-chilled, large martini glass, and add the garnish.

Gary Regan Says...

"The story of the creation of the Dry Gin Martini must always follow the tale of the Manhattan since, as far as I'm concerned, the Martini started out as a variation on the Manhattan. It goes like this: Grimes states--and I never argue with Grimes--that a drink called The Martinez is detailed in an 1884 cocktail book by someone named O.H. Byron, "who described the drink as a Manhattan in which gin is substituted for whiskey." So now we have a drink named the Martinez that's made with gin, sweet vermouth, and orange bitters."

"In the early 1900s the Dry Martinez, calling for dry vermouth instead of sweet, starts appearing in various cocktail books, and in 1906 the drink mysteriously changes its name to the Dry Martini in a book by Louis Muckensturm titled "Louis' Mixed Drinks with Hints for the Care and Service of Wines." Why did the name change? Hold on to your hat, this might be hard to take."

"I think it was probably a result of marketing dollars spent by Martini & Rossi, the company that was importing more vermouth into this country than anyone else at the time. The company apparently placed newspaper advertisements detailing the Dry Martini Cocktail in the early years of the twentieth century. I believe, therefore, that the Manhattan begat the Martinez, the Martinez begat the Dry Martinez, and the Dry Martinez eventually came to be known as the Dry Martini. There's no way to prove this, but it seems fairly logical to me. Orange bitters, by the way, remained a standard ingredient in Dry Gin Martinis right through the 1930s."

See also

• Martinez, the reputed precursor of the Martini
• Manhattan
• Vodka Martini
• Vesper