The Martinez is a classic cocktail that is widely regarded as the direct precursor to the

Martini Martini may refer to: * Martini (cocktail) * Martini (vermouth), a brand of vermouth * Martini (surname), an Italian surname * Martini (automobile company), a Swiss automobile company * Automobiles Martini, a French manufacturer of racing cars * M ...

. It serves as the basis for many modern cocktails, and several different versions of the original exist. These are generally distinguished by the accompaniment of either

Maraschino Maraschino ( , ) is a liqueur obtained from the distillation of Marasca cherries. The small, slightly sour fruit of the Tapiwa cherry tree ( ''Prunus cerasus'' var. ''marasca''), which grows wild along parts of the Dalmatian coast in Croatia, le ...

or Curacao, as well as differences in gin or bitters.

History

The true origin of the Martinez cocktail is unclear. Two early stories attribute the making of a cocktail named the Martinez to bartender Jerry Thomas at the Occidental Hotel or by a bartender by the name of Richelieue who worked at a saloon in

Martinez, California Martinez (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Martínez'') is a city and the county seat of Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, t ...

. Both stories are difficult to verify because records of drinks at the time are missing or incomplete, but the 1887 edition of Thomas' ''The Bar-Tender's Guide'' includes a recipe for the Martinez. It calls for a pony of

Old Tom gin Old Tom Gin (or Tom Gin or Old Tom) is a gin recipe popular in 18th-century England. In modern times, it became rare but has experienced a resurgence in the craft cocktail movement. It is slightly sweeter than London Dry, but slightly drier than ...

, a glass of

vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid- to late 18th centur ...

, two dashes of Maraschino, and a dash of

Boker's Bitters Boker's Bitters was a brand of bitters manufactured by the L. J. Funke Company of New York City. The ingredient is specified in nearly every cocktail that called for bitters in Jerry Thomas' 1862 book, ''How to Mix Drinks or The Bon Vivant's Compan ...

with ice, garnished with a slice of lemon. A 1884 drink guide by O.H. Byron released just a few years earlier also listed a recipe for a cocktail called the Martinez by saying only: "Same as Manhattan, only you substitute gin for whisky." The book contained two recipes for a Manhattan, one of which called for 2 dashes of curaçao, 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, 1/2 a wine-glass whisky and 1/2 a wine-glass of Italian vermouth. A later 1888 guide by Harry Johnson, the ''New and Improved Illustrated Bartender's Manual'', listed a drink that may have been incorrectly spelled as the "martine", without the letter "z". Over time the alcoholic drinks further evolved regarding both their ingredient construction and names to become what were eventually considered as two different cocktails, the Martinez and the Martini.

Martinez ingredients

After Jerry Thomas' recipe for the Martinez, as well as Byron's, ingredients for the drink that would retain the name Martinez began to take more firm shape, with most variations based on differences between the use of maraschino or curaçao. The ''Old Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide'' called for 1 oz dry gin, 1 oz french vermouth, 1/4 tsp curaçao, and a dash of orange bitters. In the 1940 ''The Official Mixers Manual'' by Patrick Gavin Duffy the drink calls for gin, dry vermouth, orange bitters, and "4 teaspoons Curaçao or Maraschino". In 1947

Trader Vic Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902 in San Francisco – October 11, 1984 in Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polyn ...

called for 3/4 oz gin, 3/4 oz french vermouth, 1/2 tsp orange bitters, and 1/2 tsp curaçao. Difford's Guide lists several versions, including an "Old Tom" version with Old Tom gin, maraschino, and angostura bitters, a "London Dry" version with dry gin, maraschino, and angostura bitters, and an "Orange" version with dry gin, curaçao, and orange bitters.

References

{{IBACocktails Cocktails with gin

History

Martinez ingredients

See also

References