Cocktail recipe
Martinez
A fragrant bridge between Manhattan and Martini, rich with Old Tom gin and sweet vermouth.
Ingredients
- 45 ml (1½ oz) Old Tom gin
- 45 ml (1½ oz) sweet red vermouth
- 5 ml (1 tsp) maraschino liqueur
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- Garnish: 1 lemon twist
Preparation
Stir gin, vermouth, maraschino and bitters over cold, hard ice until the liquid becomes glossy and thoroughly chilled. Strain into a coupe, then express lemon peel across the top; the bright oil should lift the drink's darker botanical notes.
Glassware
Chilled coupe
History
The Martinez was printed in O. H. Byron's The Modern Bartender (1884), essentially describing a Manhattan with gin replacing whiskey. A more explicit recipe appeared in the posthumous 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas's Bar-Tender's Guide. Stories crediting Thomas personally or the California town of Martinez are difficult to substantiate. Early formulas varied widely in gin, vermouth and aromatic modifiers; the Martinez is widely regarded as one of the ancestors of the Martini.
Mixology View
Our Old Tom-and-sweet-vermouth build honours the richer 19th-century family rather than forcing it into the dry Martini mould. The historic recipe is not one fixed modern ratio, so we identify this as Mixology's balanced house interpretation.