Martini (cocktail)

A classic martini glass

The martini is a cocktail made with gin or vodka and dry white vermouth. Over the years, the martini has become something of an icon, having been referred to as the "King of Cocktails". H. L. Mencken once called the martini "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet"; E. B. White called it "the elixir of quietude." Nikita Khrushchev supposedly called it "America's lethal weapon". It is also the proverbial drink of the old "three-martini lunch" of business executives, now largely abandoned as part of companies' "fitness for duty" programs.

While variations are legion, a standard modern martini is made by combining approximately two and a half ounces of gin and one half ounce of dry vermouth with ice. Because vermouth mixes easily and uniformly with its solvent (gin or vodka), a Martini should always be mixed in a stirring glass. Reputable bartending schools insist that a cocktail shaker tends to dull the taste of the vermouth. However, it is relatively common to see a bartender mix a Martini with a shaker due in part to the influence of the James Bond action movie series. The ingredients are mixed then strained and served "straight up" (without ice) in a chilled cocktail glass, and garnished with either an olive or a twist (a strip of lemon peel, usually squeezed or twisted to express volatile citric oils onto the surface of the drink). Capers or cocktail onions are sometimes used as substitute garnishes. An onion-garnished martini is properly known as a Gibson as it was created by Charles Dana Gibson, a "Life" illustrator famous for his "Gibson Girl" illustrations.

While the standard martini may call for a 5:1 ratio of distilled spirits to wine, many aficionados may reduce the proportion of vermouth drastically. This gave rise to stories such as martinis being made by just passing the cork of the vermouth above the glass, along with similar conceits about how little vermouth, i.e., how "dry," one's martinis are (see history below).

Another common but controversial variation is the vodka martini, which is prepared in exactly the same way as a standard martini, with vodka being substituted for gin as the base spirit. In the 1990s, the vodka martini supplanted the traditional gin-based martini in popularity. Today, when bar and restaurant customers order "a martini," they frequently have in mind a drink made with vodka. Martini purists decry this development: while few object to the drink itself, they strenuously object to it being called "a martini." The martini, they insist, is a gin-based cocktail; this variation should be designated as such, with the name "vodka martini" (it may also be called a "vodkatini" or a "kangaroo").

History of the drink

The origin of the martini is uncertain. By one widely accepted account, the martini is a descendant of the Martinez, an older, sweeter, but similar cocktail, which consists of (approximately) two ounces of sweet vermouth, one ounce gin (specifically, Old Tom gin, a sweetened variant), two dashes maraschino cherry liquid, and one dash bitters, shaken with ice, strained, and served with a twist of lemon. The Martinez purportedly originated in California in the 1870s, probably either in San Francisco or in the nearby town of Martinez. Some versions of this account are more specific, crediting the Martinez to Jerry Thomas, a famous and influential 19th century bartender working the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco in the late 1850s or 1860s.

In the book, The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them, copyright 1907, written by William T. Boothby, the recipe for Dry Martini Cocktail (à la Charlie Shaw, Los Angeles, Cal) instructs, "into a mixing glass place some cracked ice, two dashes of Orange bitters, half a jigger of (dry) French vermouth, and half a jigger of dry English gin. Stir well until thoroughly chilled, strain into a stem cocktail-glass, squeeze a piece of lemon peel over the top and serve with an olive." Other than the bitters and the ratio of vermouth to gin, this is remarkably similar to a modern martini cocktail. The reference to California is consistent, but other early martini history cites San Francisco rather than Los Angeles.

William Grimes, restaurant critic for the New York Times avers (in Straight Up or On the Rocks: the Story of the American Cocktail) that the dry martini was invented by Signor Martini di Arma di Taggia, the bartender at the Knickerbocker Hotel, in New York, in 1912. The fact that numerous published references to the martini predate 1912 discounts this theory.

The martini was an established American cocktail at the beginning of the 20th century, but did not attain its pre-eminent status as the classic cocktail until later in the century. Perhaps paradoxically, Prohibition did a great deal to elevate the martini's stature. Americans' preferred tipple at that time -- whiskey -- requires skillful blending and long aging, whereas cheap but (marginally) drinkable "bathtub gin" is relatively easy to produce, so martinis were more readily available in the era of the speakeasy.

The Prohibition-era martini was quite "wet" by today's standards. With the repeal of Prohibition, and the ready availability of quality gin, the drink became progressively dryer. (A "dry" martini is one with relatively little vermouth. One might say that a "very dry" martini is essentially a glass of cold gin, though the ice will contribute some water to the final drink.) This trend toward dryness eventually reached fetishistic extremes, and became the source of a considerable body of martini anecdotes, wit, and lore. One might prepare a martini by waving the cap of a vermouth bottle over the glass, or observing that "there was vermouth in the house once." Winston Churchill chose to forgo vermouth completely, and instead simply bowed in the direction of France, while General Patton suggested pointing the gin bottle in the general direction of Italy. Ernest Hemingway liked to order a "Montgomery", which was a martini mixed at a gin:vermouth ratio of 15:1 (these supposedly being the odds Field Marshall Montgomery wanted to have before going into battle). In a classic bit of stage business in the 1955 play Auntie Mame sophisticated pre-adolescent Patrick Dennis offers a martini, which he prepares by swirling a drop of vermouth in the glass, then tossing it out before filling the glass with gin. Similarly, in the 1958 movie Teacher's Pet, Clark Gable mixes a martini by turning the bottle of vermouth upside-down before running the moistened cork around the rim of the glass and filling it with gin. Surrealist director Luis Buñuel was another supporter of the drink, including his personal recipe into his Oscar-winning 1972 film Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie and in his memoires, which consists basically of "coating the cubes", a method of adding the flavor of vermouth by pouring the vermouth in separately, and then pouring it out before pouring in the gin. Also, atomizers similar to those used for perfume were sometimes used to dispense a token amount of vermouth.

The martini's popularity waned in the health-conscious, wine-and-spritzer-drinking seventies, but resurged in the late eighties and nineties. During this "martini renaissance," vodka supplanted gin as the most commonly requested base spirit, and nouveau variations proliferated: the green apple martini, the chocolate martini, and so forth. Whether the more extreme variations of this era may truly be called martinis remains a topic of vigorous debate. The first reference to a vodka martini in the United States occurs in the 1951 cocktail book Bottoms Up by Ted Saucier. The recipe is credited to celebrity photographer Jerome Zerbe.

Martini lore and mixology

Western culture has created a virtual mythology around the martini, in part because of the many legendary historical and fictional figures who favoured it. Churchill, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Cary Grant and the fictional James Bond among them. The dry martini is also sometimes called "The Silver Bullet" because it "is clear, potent and never misses its mark". (Of course, this is not to be confused with Coors Light, which is also known by that name.)

The classic martini of yore was stirred, "so as not to bruise the gin." W. Somerset Maugham declared that "Martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, so that the molecules lie sensuously one on top of the other," while James Bond from the Ian Fleming novels ordered his "shaken, not stirred", a drink properly called a Bradford.

In the novel Casino Royale, Bond's recipe is specified in more detail as made with three measures of gin (Gordon's was Bond's preference), one measure of vodka (Russian or Polish is preferred), and half a measure of Kina Lillet aperitif, shaken until ice-cold, and with a large, thin slice of lemon peel for garnish (properly called a "Vesper" after his love interest in the book). By the second Bond novel, Live and Let Die, Bond was drinking vodka martinis, a trend that continued when 007 moved to the screen in 1962.

The concept of "bruising the gin" as a result of shaking a martini is an oft-debated topic. The term comes from an older argument over whether or not to bruise the mint in preparing a Mint Julep. A shaken martini is different from stirred for a few reasons. The shaking action breaks up the ice and adds more water, slightly weakening the drink but also altering the taste. Some would say the shaken martini has a "more rounded" taste. Others, usually citing hard-to-track-down scientific studies, say that shaking causes more of a certain class of molecules (aldehydes) to bond with oxygen, resulting in a "sharper" taste. Shaking also adds tiny air bubbles, which can lead to a cloudy drink instead of clear. Some martini devotees believe the vermouth is more evenly distributed by shaking, which can alter the flavor and texture of the beverage as well. In some places, a shaken martini is referred to as a "Martini James Bond".

Although Charles Dana Gibson is most likely responsible for the creation of the Gibson martini (where a pickled onion serves as the garnish), the details are debated and several alternate stories exist. In one story, Gibson challenged Charley Connolly, the bartender of the Players' Club in New York City, to improve upon the martini's recipe, so Mr. Connolly simply substituted the olive with an onion and named the drink after the patron. Other stories involve different Gibsons, such as an apocryphal American diplomat who served in Europe during Prohibition. Although he was a teetotaller, he often had to attend receptions where cocktails were served. To avoid an awkward situation, Gibson would ask the staff to fill his martini glass with cold water and garnish it with a small onion so that he could pick it out among the gin drinks.

The martini has become a symbol for cocktails and nightlife in general; American bars often have a picture of a conical martini glass with an olive on their signs. In Martini, Straight Up: The Classic American Cocktail, Lowell Edmunds, a classics professor and doyen of martini lore, analyzes the cocktail's symbolic potency in considerable depth. It has also been suggested that the V-shaped glass connotates the symbol of the sacred feminine. This gives the drinker the ability to "drink from a woman," explaining the sex appeal of martinis in popular culture.

Over the years

Although the original Russian Vodka Martini is still popular, colorful, flavored vodka martinis are rapidly becoming the trend of new drinkers, as well as the vodka veterans. Unlike gin, vodka has a neutral flavor which allows it to easily mix with other flavors to make a wide variety of flavored martinis.

New specialty martinis are being made every day, using many different combinations of fresh fruit and vegetable juices, splashes of cream, and brightly colored liqueurs.

Instead of the typical cocktail olive, cocktail onion, or lemon twist, unique garnishes are being used in the new flavored martinis. Some of these garnishes are marinated capers, fresh herbs, or olives stuffed with blue cheese, anchovies, or sun-dried tomatoes.

In popular culture

Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John McIntyre and B.J. Hunnicutt in M*A*S*H made their own gin to make martini(s) in a still in the Swamp. In the first-season episode "Chief Surgeon Who?", Hawkeye declares, "Actually, I'm pursuing my lifelong quest for the perfect, the absolutely dryest martini to be found in this or any other world. And I *think* I may have hit upon the perfect formula." Upon hearing this, Trapper asks, "Five-to-one?" Hawkeye replies, "Not quite. You pour six jiggers of gin, and you drink it while staring at a picture of Lorenzo Schwartz, the inventor of vermouth." (This is inaccurate, though, as vermouth was actually developed by Antonio Benedetto Carpano.)

The vodka martini is the drink of choice of James Bond. In the films he prefers his "shaken, not stirred" which is the opposite to how he likes Vodka Martini's in Ian Flemings original Bond books, where the formula is stirred but not shaken.

In The Thin Man (1934) Nick Charles shakes all of his cocktails, saying, “Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you always shake to foxtrot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.”

Brian Griffin from the popular television show, Family Guy is usually seen with some sort of alcoholic drink, most often a martini.

In the television show Scrubs, the main character JD's drink of choice is an "appletini, easy on the tini".

Karen Walker (character) is normally seen drinking a martini on the American sitcom Will and Grace.

Martini variations

A bottle of white vermouth

Many variations exist on the standard martini described above.

• A vodka martini (or vodkatini or kangaroo) is made the same way but with vodka instead of gin, and more often uses lemon rind as the garnish. This is the most common variation, and in fact is more popular than the original in most locations. It was made famous by the James Bond movies as James Bond's favorite beverage. He is known for requesting it "shaken, not stirred"
• An in-and-out martini is a very dry gin martini prepared by pouring a small measure of vermouth into a shaker, shaking it to coat the ice, and then pouring out and disposing of any remaining vermouth. The standard amount of gin is then shaken over this vermouth-tinged ice and served normally. Former U.S. president Richard Nixon was said to favour this.
• A perfect martini is technically one made with a mixture of dry and sweet vermouth, although in many bars the term is misused as a qualitative one.
• A Churchill is made with dry gin, stirred, with an unopened bottle of vermouth waved above the shaker.
• An apple martini (also sour apple martini or appletini) is a vodka martini with an apple flavoring such as apple schnapps, sometimes with apple, lemon or lime juice, and is often garnished with a slice of Granny Smith apple. Some people call this an "apple cosmopolitan".
• A dirty martini has some of the brine (at least a teaspoon) from the olive jar added. (FDR was partial to a dirty martini.)
• A Lychee Martini is made with Lichido Liqueur , Vodka and a dash of lime juice.
• A naked martini is made without ice, but with the ingredients and glass chilled.
• A sweet martini is made with sweet red vermouth, and may be garnished with a maraschino cherry instead of an olive.
• A dry martini uses less dry vermouth than normal, perhaps a dash or lace of the glass.
• A burnt martini uses scotch instead of vermouth, and can vary in flavour according to the attributes of the scotch used.
• A sake martini substitutes a dry, clear sake for the vermouth.
• A Gibson is a standard dry martini that is garnished with cocktail onions instead of olives.
• A Gibsontini is a standard dry martini that is garnished with an onion-stuffed olive.
• A tequila martini (aka. Tequini) substitutes tequila for gin.
• An akvavit martini substitutes akvavit for gin.
• A gin salad is made like the ordinary martini but with three olives and two cocktail onions as garnish.
  • Gin salad is also the term used to describe any traditional martini that has an excess of garnish vegetables in it.
• A Dickens martini is the traditional martini, alebeit one without any garnish.
• A Virgin martini is made just like the canonical version only leaving out the vermouth- basically chilled gin or vodka with a garnish.
• A Lemon martini is made with Lemon Vodka laced with Grand Marnier.
• A Valencia the martini is mixed with a dash of Fino sherry instead of vermouth. Seville orange peel is flamed into a martini glass (3 or 4 peel strips squeezed over a match so that the oil droplets catch fire on their way to coat the glass). The martini is poured into the glass and garnished with a twist of orange peel.
• A Flame of Love martini just like a Valencia only it's made with Vodka instead of Gin. It was supposed to be Dean Martin's favourite variant.
• An Absinthe martini uses 2oz of gin, 1/2oz dry vermouth and 1/8oz Absinthe in the usual way. No garnish is specified, but a neatly trimmed piece of glace Angelica has been used
• A Haiku martini uses Sake instead of Gin or Vodka and the garnish is a lychee
• For a Cucumber martini 5-10 cm of peeled diced cucumber are muddled in a mixer. Ice, 50ml vodka and 5-10ml of Elderflower cordial are added. The cocktail is shaken, strained and a slice of unpeeled cucumber is slipped over the rim of the glass.
• A Black eyed pea martini is made with Blavod(TM) a black vodka. The recipe calls for 10oz freezing Blavod, 1tbsp Vermouth, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice. The garnish is black olives (brined not oiled) stuffed with salted peanuts.

There are many of additional variants.

Sometimes the term "martini" is used to refer to other mostly-hard-liquor cocktails such as Manhattans, cosmopolitans, and ad-hoc or local concoctions whose only commonality with the drink is the cocktail glass in which they are served. Chefs with a more whimsical bent are even producing dessert "martinis" which are not a drink at all, but are merely served in martini glasses.

See also

• List of cocktails

References

• Conrad, Barnaby III. The Martini: An Illustrated History of an American Classic. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1995. (ISBN 0-8118-0717-7)
• Edmunds, Lowell. Martini, Straight Up: The Classic American Cocktail. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1998.
• Fleming, Ian. Casino Royale. New York: Penguin Books, 2002. p. 045 [sic?]
• Grimes, William. Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002.
• Miller, Anistatia R. and Jared M. Brown. Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.
• Regan, Gary. The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2003.
• Tastings: The Beverage Tasting Institute. Eds. Laverick, Charles, and Marc Dornan. 25 May 2004. <http://tastings.com>.
• Trevithick C.C., et al. Shaken not stirred: bioanalytical study of the antioxidant activities of martinis. British Medical Journal 1999 Dec 18; 319(7225): 1600-1602.
• Moorhouse, Frank. Martini: A Memoir. Sydney. Knopf, 2005.

External links

• Smoky Martini Recipe
• Martini Recipes & Martini Party Ideas
• Martini discussion forum with recipes and martini chat.
• The Martini FAQ
• History of the Martini: A talk with Max Rudin 29 December 1997 http://talkinghistory.oah.org/arch1997.html