If you didn't know that June 19th is national Martini day, well by all means let's all raise a glass. It has an interesting history along with several stories of how it actually came into being. The most famous of them is legendary bartender Jerry Thomas who was working at the Occidental Hotel in San Fransisco, CA in the second half of the nineteenth century. When a traveler on his way to Martinez, CA stopped in for a drink and wanted him to make him something special, Jerry created one in honor of the place he was headed. He mixed one pony (one ounce)
Old Tom Gin, one wine glass (four ounces) Italian sweet vermouth, a dash of
Boker's bitters, two dashes of
maraschino liqueur, and called it the Martinez cocktail. The Martini has evolved over the decades and some even think a Martini is made with Vodka and various flavored syrups, but that's proves criminal negligence!
If you talk about a classic Martini, then it's a two to one ratio (that dates back to 1915) including bitters. Meaning two parts of top shelf
gin to one part dry or semi dry vermouth and a few dashes of
orange bitters, shaken very hard and served in a stem glass usually about three to four ounces. A popular recipe I use is the following:
Classic Martini
1 1/2 oz gin (such as
No 209 or
Hendricks)
Don't even think about Beefeaters or Seagrams
3/4 oz vermouth such as
Cinzano Blanco or dry
2 - 3 dashes of orange bitters (such as
Regan's or
Fee Brothers)
Shake very hard with ice for about 20 seconds and serve in a chilled cocktail glass.
Give it a try and let me know what you think, happy National Martini day!
God bless and Cheers,
John Apodaca
john@daddyosmartinis.com
