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National Martini Day

Evolution of an Icon – National Martini Day

June 19, 2015 By Brian Petro

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!

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

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July 18 @ 3:00 pm - 9:00 pm

What the Taco?!

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

+ 9 More
8:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Yellow Springs Farmers Market

July 19 @ 8:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Yellow Springs Farmers Market

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

8:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Ohio Challenge Hot Air Balloon Festival

July 19 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Ohio Challenge Hot Air Balloon Festival

The Ohio Challenge is a thrilling hot air balloon festival, featuring balloon races, night glows, skydiving performances, carnival rides, and fireworks. Hosted at Smith Park...

8:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Annual Friends of SICSA Garage Sale

July 19 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Annual Friends of SICSA Garage Sale

Join Friends of SICSA for their Annual Garage Sale! Shop an array of new and gently used items while supporting...

8:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Clark County Fair

July 19 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Clark County Fair

Live Entertainment, Carnival Rides, Antique Show, Livestock Show, Home Brew Contest, Truck Tug-O-War, Truck Pull, Demolition Derby, O.S.T.P.A. Tractor Pull,...

8:30 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Downtown Franklin Farmers Market

July 19 @ 8:30 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Downtown Franklin Farmers Market

Join us every Saturday through Sept 13, 8.30 a.m. - 12 p.m. for local products including fresh produce, honey/jams, and...

9:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Oakwood Farmers Market

July 19 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Oakwood Farmers Market

The 2025 Oakwood Farmers’ Market will be held Saturdays, June 7th thru October 11th, from 9 am until 12pm. The...

9:00 am - 1:00 pm Recurring

Greene County Farmers Market

July 19 @ 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Recurring

Greene County Farmers Market

The outdoor Farmers Market on Indian Ripple Rd. in Beavercreek runs Saturdays, 9-1 even during the winter months. Check out...

9:00 am - 2:00 pm Recurring

Shiloh Farmers Market

July 19 @ 9:00 am - 2:00 pm Recurring

Shiloh Farmers Market

The farmers’ market is located on the corner of Main St. & Philadelphia Dr, in the parking lot of Shiloh...

+ 22 More
7:00 am - 11:00 pm

Butler County Fair

July 20 @ 7:00 am - 11:00 pm

Butler County Fair

We've got an amazing lineup of local talent playing every night from 5:30 to 9:00 PM — and it's FREE...

8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Summer Restaurant Week

July 20 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Summer Restaurant Week

Try unique menus at many of Dayton’s classiest places for reduced prices, all while raising money for charity. July 20-27,...

8:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Clark County Fair

July 20 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Recurring

Clark County Fair

Live Entertainment, Carnival Rides, Antique Show, Livestock Show, Home Brew Contest, Truck Tug-O-War, Truck Pull, Demolition Derby, O.S.T.P.A. Tractor Pull,...

8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Shelby County Fair

July 20 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Shelby County Fair

Join us for the 165th Annual Shelby County Fair, located right here in Sidney, Ohio July 20 - 26, 2025.  We...

9:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Downtown Troy Farmers’ Market

July 20 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Downtown Troy Farmers’ Market

Downtown Troy Farmers' Market will run Saturday mornings 9:00 am to 12:00 pm from June 22nd, 2013 through September 21st,...

12:00 pm - 5:00 pm Recurring

The Gothic Market

July 20 @ 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm Recurring

The Gothic Market

 Entry: In order to attend this event, you must have tickets in advance. Not only is it cheapest to get...

$10 – $13
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

“Escape to Murderville”

July 20 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

“Escape to Murderville”

Get ready for a night of mystery, mayhem, and margaritas at “Escape to Murderville”–the ultimate Jimmy Buffet-themed murder mystery dinner...

$25
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm Recurring

Shrek The Musical

July 20 @ 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm Recurring

Shrek The Musical

Join Epiphany Players Drama Ministry for our 34th musical as Aaron Brewer debuts as Director, with Music Director Kandis Gibson...

$18
+ 9 More
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