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Evolution of an Icon – National Martini Day

June 19, 2015 By Brian Petro

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Martini glasses

The cocktail. The myth. The legend.

The martini is an iconic drink. So iconic, in fact, that the glass it is served in with an olive is an almost universal symbol of a cocktail. June 19th every year is National Martini Day, one day we get to celebrate this legend and all of the varieties it has spawned. Starting with Mae West and James Thurber, to James Bond to Sex in the City, martinis in all their various forms have been embraced by pop culture as elegance in a glass. Maybe it is the simplicity of the ingredients. Maybe it is the balance of sweet and strong ingredients. Maybe it is the flexibility of the cocktail over the ages. Whatever the reason, more has been written and said about the martini than almost any other cocktail in history. And it all started in a little town in California.

The Golden (Rush) Age

The grandparents of the martini are just as distinguished as the cocktail itself. The Manhattan, well known to whiskey enthusiasts, is thought to be one of the original influencers on the cocktail. The use of vermouths and other aperitifs in cocktails was well established by the mid-nineteenth century. The other big influencer on the creation of the martini is the Martinez, a cocktail created in California during the Gold Rush. There are many stories told about how the Martinez was created, but the most common one involves a miner stopping at a bar in Martinez, CA and requesting that the bartender make him something special. Sometimes that bartender is the iconic Jerry Thomas, sometimes it is not. The bartender then created the cocktail as listed below:

The Martinez Cocktail

The Martinez utilized sweet vermouth and gin, but it soon evolved.

The Martinez

1.5 oz. gin
1.5 oz. sweet vermouth
¼ oz. Maraschino liqueur (some recipes call for orange curacao)
2-3 dashes of orange bitters
Garnish: Lemon Peel

Pour all of the ingredients over ice into a glass. Stir for 20 seconds until the cocktail is chilled; strain the ingredients into a martini glass. Twist the lemon peel over the cocktail then add to the drink.

Even the glass the martini is served is in designed for the enjoyment of the libation. The glass is stemmed so you can hold it away from the drink, keeping it is chilled as long as possible. In all martinis, the water you get from stirring or shaking is important to the enjoyment of the cocktail. It softens the gin and smooths out any rough edges. The reputation of this cocktail spread from California to the rest of the country, and the rest of the country had something to say about how the cocktail was made.

The Martini Dries Out

A selection of dry vermouths

This is as close as the vermouth should come to your cocktail.

The first place the martini recipe was actually written down was in 1882 by Harry Johnson in his Bartender’s Manual. It is much different than the one we would recognize today, adding gum syrup for some sweetness and thickness and with liquor proportions like the Martinez. As the 19th century turned into the 20th, dry vermouth, or French, vermouth was becoming more and more popular in bars on the east coast. It even found its way into the martini, immediately changing the complexion of the cocktail. Originally a martini with dry vermouth was known as a Dry Martini, but the dry was dropped as dry vermouth became the go to aperitif for the cocktail. As the nation got closer and closer to Prohibition, the martini became drier and simpler, losing sweeteners and having the ratio of gin to vermouth drop. It eventually settled to a 3 to 5 parts gin to one part vermouth ratio.  In The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, author David Embury even went as far as to insist the perfect ration is seven part gin to one part vermouth. A dry martini indeed.

The Dry Martini

2 ½ oz. gin
½ oz. dry vermouth
2-3 dashes orange bitters

Pour all of the ingredients over ice into a glass. Stir for 20 seconds until the cocktail is chilled; strain the ingredients into a martini glass.  You may choose to add an olive or a twisted lemon peel for a garnish.

It was only called a Dry Martini at the time to distinguish it from its sweet vermouth based cousin. Time and other circumstances kept pulling the vermouth out of the cocktail.

Cocktails during Prohibition were not complicated at all. “Pour some liquor in a glass and drink” is a pretty accurate description of most drinks in the United States during this period. All of the great bartenders fled overseas and were creating new libations in Europe and the Caribbean. The ones still in the states were trying not to get caught serving cocktails, so ingredients like vermouth became novelties. Martinis became a little more than some chilled gin in a glass, and that is the way many people liked it. Even after Prohibition ended, the dryness of the martini stayed. Many luminaries of the time insisted the only way to drink a martini was to leave out the vermouth all together and just drink chilled gin in a martini glass. Maybe have a bottle of vermouth in the room or toast in the direction of France as you enjoyed your drink. This was also a time bartenders would use atomizers with vermouth or just wash the glass with vermouth to add a hint of the flavor, but not much of one. It was during this era that the dryness of the martini referred to a lack of vermouth as opposed to using different vermouth. This changed with the introduction of a new spirit to the American palate: vodka.

Leaving us Breathless

1953 Smirnoff Ad

A vintage 1953 Smirnoff ad. It even advocates the Vodka Martini.

Vodka is a relative newcomer to the U.S. cocktail menu. It arrived on the shores in the 1950’s, and became hugely popular with the “Leaves You Breathless” campaign used by Smirnoff. One of the advantages vodka had over gin was the fact that after a three martini lunch, you did not carry a piney smell around for the rest of the afternoon. Since the art of bartending was just still filtering back into the United States, most bartenders substituted gin with vodka in cocktails as experiments. One of those was the martini, which for some reason was then christened the Kangaroo.

The Kangaroo

2 oz. vodka
1 oz. dry vermouth
Garnish: Lemon Peel

Pour all of the ingredients over ice into a glass. Stir for 20 seconds until the cocktail is chilled; strain the ingredients into a martini glass. Twist the lemon peel over the cocktail then add to the drink.

Many bars today don’t even add the vermouth to a vodka martini. There is no other flavor to balance out the cocktail, so instead of overwhelming the vodka, they just leave it out. Vodka opened a door for other experimentation. Since it is odorless and flavorless, it is a blank canvas on which to work. This gave the men and women behind the bar more room to play with flavor and other ingredients, straining them into a martini glass, and called the concoction some form of martini. This led to a little darker era for the martini purists.

Appletinis, Chocolate Martinis, and Questionable Martini Creations

It could be argued that the Cosmopolitan, developed in the 1970’s but not reaching peak popularity until the 90’s, was the precursor to the flood of flavored martinis. It could also be argued the Cosmopolitan was the precursor to the flavored vodka boom, but that is a different article. Other cocktail historians point to the French Martini at Pravda in the late 1990’s as the flash point for flavored martinis.

Flavored martinis

So…this era happened…

French Martini

1 oz. vodka
1 oz. Chambord (any fine raspberry liqueur will do)
2 oz. pineapple juice

Pour the ingredients into a mixing tin over ice. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds; strain into a martini glass.

This is a delicious cocktail, but is it a martini? Purists (myself included) would say no, that this is a delicious cocktail in a martini glass. A martini is gin (or vodka) and vermouth in a martini glass. The blank canvas expanded to include Lemon Drop Martinis, Appletinis, Cherry Cheesecake Martinis, Espresso Martinis, and all other manner of concoctions and variations. Menus became full of these cocktails, and for a while it was all the rage. Something in the bar community shifted in the early 2000’s, and classic cocktails fought their way back to the menu. This meant that the original martini, full of gin and vermouth and old world flavor, returned to menus as an option to the other martinis that were offered. You would be hard pressed to find a White Chocolate Martini in a craft cocktail bar these days. Though if you asked nicely, I am sure they would be able to make you one.

No matter how you enjoy your martini, June 19th, National Martini Day, is a perfect day to, as Mae West put it, “slip into a dry martini”. Plenty of vermouth or no vermouth, flavored or not, you have many options to explore in one day. Just pace yourself. There is still a whole weekend of martini drinking to get through, and you may want to have one with dad on Father’s Day. Cheers!

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Filed Under: Dayton Dining, The Featured Articles Tagged With: cocktails, Dayton Ohio, DaytonDining, Food Holidays, French Martini, gin, Martini, National Martini Day, Things to Do, vermouth, vodka

About Brian Petro

Brian Petro is a designer, educator, mixologist and bon vivant. His quest for knowledge never stops and he loves to share what he learns with others. Visit him on Facebook/Twitter at Smart Guy in a Tie Cocktails.


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34th Annual Furry Skurry 5K

Unleash the adventure at the 34th Annual Furry Skurry 5K – a paw-some day of heroic fun alongside your four-legged...

$40 – $80
8:00 am - 12:00 pm

What the Taco?!

May 17 @ 8:00 am - 12:00 pm

What the Taco?!

Chipotle Chicken Taco GRILLED CHICKEN, SHREDDED LETTUCE, PICO DE GALLO, CILANTRO SOUR CREAM & MONTEREY JACK $10.00 Ground Beef Taco...

8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Yellow Springs Farmers Market

May 17 @ 8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Yellow Springs Farmers Market

For over 20 years this market has been made up of a hardworking group of men, women and children, dedicated...

9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Corvette Cars and Coffee

May 17 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Corvette Cars and Coffee

Calling all Corvette lovers! This cruise-in will have classic and modern models on display from all over the Miami Valley....

Free
9:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Hamvention 2025

May 17 @ 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Hamvention 2025

Hamvention, the world's largest amateur radio gathering at Greene County Fairgrounds. Sponsored by Dayton Amateur Radio Association. Hamvention boasts over...

9:30 am - 5:00 pm

Spring Fest Parade

May 17 @ 9:30 am - 5:00 pm

Spring Fest Parade

Parade sign ups are now live on burgspringfest.com! This year’s Spring Fest theme is Burgchella! Think Coachella festival vibes- flower...

10:00 am - 11:00 am

Sculpt with Speakeasy

May 17 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Sculpt with Speakeasy

Sculpt is a low-impact, high-intensity full body workout that combines elements of barre, pilates, and various body weight exercises. Each...

+ 18 More
8:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Friends of the Germantown Library Farmers Market

May 18 @ 8:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Friends of the Germantown Library Farmers Market

The market will be open 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Come out and sample the local harvest! Meet local Germantown...

8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Good Neighbor 5k

May 18 @ 8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Good Neighbor 5k

Lace up for our Good Neighbor 5k on Sunday, May 18! Together with our friends at locally owned and operated...

$20 – $25
9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Plein Air Paint Out

May 18 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Plein Air Paint Out

Calling all artists…here is your chance to paint or draw on a property protected by Tecumseh Land Trust. We supply...

Free
9:00 am - 1:00 pm Recurring

Hamvention 2025

May 18 @ 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Recurring

Hamvention 2025

Hamvention, the world's largest amateur radio gathering at Greene County Fairgrounds. Sponsored by Dayton Amateur Radio Association. Hamvention boasts over...

10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Goal Hike for Women-Owned Business

May 18 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Goal Hike for Women-Owned Business

This isn't your average networking event—we're hitting the trails for a morning of fresh air, real talk, and creative inspiration....

$20
10:00 am - 1:30 pm

Drag Me to Brunch

May 18 @ 10:00 am - 1:30 pm

Drag Me to Brunch

Art Central Foundation is pleased to welcome the incomparable Rubi Girls back to the stage of the historic Sorg Opera...

$30 – $45
10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Raptor Photography

May 18 @ 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Raptor Photography

May 18: Join us in the Baldwin Pond meadow for an opportunity to capture stunning pictures of hawks,owls, and falcons...

$50
11:00 am - 4:00 pm Recurring

Dayton Spring Home Expo

May 18 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Recurring

Dayton Spring Home Expo

FREE ADMISSION This free event is the perfect opportunity for homeowners to save BIG on all home improvement projects and...

Free
+ 11 More
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