Classic cocktail around whose origin many legends are entwined. There are at least ten versions surrounding the "invention" of the Martini, but it is most likely that this drink developed slowly. The most probable precursor of the "Martini" was a cocktail called "Martinez", which in turn owes its name to the Californian town of Martinez in Contra Costa County, where it became popular towards the end of the 19th century. There is even a plaque commemorating the "Birth of the Martini" at the intersection of Alhambra Avenue and Masonic Street. As early as 1850, Vermouth was exported to the USA, but it was not added to gin by bartenders until around 1880.
Origin of the Martini
Of course, there is no precisely documented date of the "very first Martini". A "Martinez" was first mentioned in writing in 1884, to which Curacao, Maraschino (cherry) and orange bitters were added instead of gin. The New York bartender Jerry Thomas is considered the inventor. The name "Martini" was first mentioned in 1888 and "Dry Martini Cocktail" in 1904 in a French bar book. In any case, the Martini is one of the aperitifs and today is usually mixed from several portions of gin and a smaller portion of mostly dry Vermouth. However, vodka can also be used instead of the classic gin, but then it must be explicitly ordered as a "vodka martini". If a whisky is added instead of gin, as well as Angostura, then this is a Manhattan.
Different recipes
There are different recipes and different opinions as to what the true "classic Martini" is. In any case, it should not be confused with the Vermouth of the same name from the Italian company Martini & Rossi. In principle, any brand of vermouth is acceptable, but of all the brands, the Italian Martini or the French Noilly Prat are preferred. Probably the most famous form is the classic "Dry Martini", which consists of London Dry Gin, as little Vermouth as possible and an olive or lemon peel as a garnish. The "International Bartenders Association" lists the "Dry Martini" among the "Official IBA Cocktails" with the following recipe: 5.5 cl gin and 1.5 cl dry vermouth. Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice cubes, stir well (stirred) and strain into a chilled martini bowl with the typical conical shape (Straight Up = without ice). Then squirt some oil from a piece of lemon peel onto the drink or garnish the glass with an olive.
The cocktail glasses are usually pre-chilled (frosted). Rarer are special Martini chillers, i.e. goblets without stems that rest in a container previously filled with crushed ice after serving. However, cocktail fiddles have mixing ratios of 3:1 to 8:1. An extreme form is to moisten the glass only with Vermouth at all. In any case, in the early days of the Martini, a much higher quantity of Vermouth was customary than today. A hotly debated question is "shaken or stirred". This is because the way it is prepared has an influence on its taste and appearance. Shaking usually makes the drink colder than stirring and it can be relatively easily watered down by the ice. On the other hand, a special visual effect is created: due to the air that enters the drink in the process, the liquid appears milky shortly after it is poured into the glass and only slowly clears up as the small bubbles rise (what purists call "ugly").
James Bond's Martini
One of the most famous lovers of the cocktail is the secret agent James Bond 007, who orders his martini as follows in "Casino Royale": A dry martini, shaken not stirred, in a champagne goblet. Add three measures of Gordon's (gin), one measure of vodka and half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake the whole thing thoroughly until it is ice cold and add a thin slice of lemon peel. So instead of the traditional vermouth, James Bond wants the vermouth-like wine liqueur Lillet (Kina Lillet). Furthermore, he unusually has gin and vodka added. He later calls the cocktail "Vesper" after the first name of a woman he fell in love with. Purist martini fans accuse the secret agent Bond (better would be the English author Ian Fleming, who invented him) of being a cultural philistine, because a martini must be made exclusively with gin and Vermouth, and must be "stirred". Other favourite drinks of 007 are exquisite champagnes and Bordeaux wines (see also cinema and TV films).
Anecdotes about the Martini
There are numerous anecdotes and more or less legendary reports about this cult drink. In 1933, the end of American Prohibition (1920-1933) was celebrated in the White House with martinis. The US writer and war correspondent Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) accompanied an American advance party during the recapture of Paris in 1944. This was celebrated in the bar of the Ritz Hotel with numerous martinis. At the Yalta Conference in February 1945 on the Crimean peninsula with the three Allied heads of state Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and Josef Stalin (1878-1953), Roosevelt allegedly had a suitcase of bartending equipment with him so as not to have to do without his beloved "dirty martinis" (with a shot of salty olive juice).
On the question of how many martini cocktails one can drink or tolerate, a quote from the US writer Dorothy Parker (1893-1967): I like to have a martini, two at the very most. After three I'm under the table, after four I'm under my host! (I like to have martinis, but two are enough served, because after three I'm under the table, and after four I'm under my host! Winston Churchill is credited with the following "martini recipe", with which he claimed an "extremely economical" use of Vermouth: The driest martini is a bottle of good gin that once stood next to a bottle of vermouth. Finally, a quote from the US writer James Thurber (1894-1961): One martini is just right. Two are too many. Three are not enough.
How to describe a very dry martini is illustrated by a scene in the novel "The high Window" by US writer Raymond Chandler (1888-1959). The private detective Philip Marlowe orders a martini in a bar: A martini. Dry. Very, very, very dry. The bartender: OK. Do you want to eat it with a spoon or with a knife and fork? Philip Marlowe: Cut it into strips. I just want to nibble on it. On this complex of topics, see also Drinking culture and intoxication.
Picture left: By Achim Schleuning - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
