Brief History of Martini: Classic Martini Recipe

”I had never tasted anything so cool and clean.” “They made me feel civilized.”Ernest Hemingway novel Farewell to Arms.

They may serve you a drink with a long-stemmed “V” shaped glass, which doesn’t mean yet it is the best Martini for you. For many people, classic Martini is a mixture of gin and vermouth and only – nothing more, nothing less.

What is the modern definition of a classic martini?

classic Martini is a mixture of gin and vermouth and
only – nothing more, nothing less.

It is gin (vodka), dry vermouth and an olive oil or lemon twist garnish. However, the current martini is far from its old origins, even if given a long definition of it.

The earliest story on the origins of Martini comes from the Gold Rush in San Francisco. It was sometime in 1870s when a bartender named Jerry Thomas invented a special drink for a miner who wanted to exchange something special for a gold nugget. The miner came from Martinez, California, which was the reason Jerry called the special drink Martinez… The initial recipe was bitters – 1 dash, maraschino – 2 dashes, a glass of sweet vermouth, a pony of sweetened gin and a slice of lemon. As a matter of fact, there is nothing near to today's definition of Martini consisting of gin  and vermouth.

With the turn of the century there came some other variations of the martini, which contained sweet vermouth and gin (equal parts), sometimes with orange bitters. Here again, no similarity with the definition of modern classic martini.

Another story glorifying the invention of martini goes with an Italian bartender and immigrant in New York City Martini di Arma di Taggia. He claimed to invent the drink before World War I. His recipe consisted of equal parts of dry vermouth and dry gin, plus orange bitters.

Martinis owes its popularity to the marketing of gin by liquor companies during the 1950s. The popularity of martini also decreased due to the marketing of vodka in 1970s. At any time, the product placement and the celebrity endorsements increased the popularity of Martini; celebrities like Ernest Hemingway, David Niven, Hamphrey and Marlene Dietrich were seen drinking Martini in public, and more powerfully, on screen, so that anyone else wanted to drink Martini as well.

How to Make Classic Martini? Here is the Perfect Martini Recipe

Yields: 1 serving

Prep time: 5 min

Ingredients at hand:

Gin or Vodka (your choice) * – 2 ounces (1 ounce is 28 grams)

Dry vermouth – ½ ounce

Green olives – pimento (large ones)

Ice Cubes

Twist of Lemon

* 1 ounce is 2 tablespoons - 1 shot glass = 1 1/2 ounces.

How to prepare Classic Martini?

Like, we do with beer glasses, in this case we put the martini glasses into the freezer.

Fill the cocktail shaker with ice cubes and pour gin or vodka inside. Shake at least 10 seconds.

Pour the shake into a martini cocktail glass (no ice should be in the glass).

Garnish either with olives or a lemon twist.