Martinis

MARTINI FACTS: 

So... What's the point of a glass that is so easy to spill from? Your drink warms up quickly and you pay more for less?

Yep... That's about it... Martinis are quite impractical... But if anything... They are cool... & there is a reason for this glass...

The point of a martini glass is to give you a handle to grab onto (the stem), so that you don't warm up the drink with your own body temperature, by grabbing the walls of the glass, which are in direct contact with the drink inside the glass. The reason this drink needs to be exceptionally cold is that it is traditionally poured with 'straight liquor', this is a very strong flavored cocktail, which is curtailed if the drink is very cold..

MARTINI LORE: 

1.      A famous French court composer named ‘JPA Martini’ is credited with a cocktail in 1763 of Gin & Dry White Wine.

2.      According to the chamber of commerce in Martinez, California, in 1874.A miner who had struck gold…ordered champagne, the bar had none, so the bartender (a guy named Julio Richelieu) told the miner that he would come up with something that would make the miner happy. The ‘Special’ that this bartender came up with he called the ‘Martinez Special’, but after four or five of them the miner had trouble pronouncing the ‘z’ at the end of the name so they dropped it, making it the 'Martini Special'

3.      There is also a report of a ‘mixologist’ named Jerry Thomas who claims to have made the 1^st  ‘Martinez’ in the Occidental Hotel on Montgomery St. in San Francisco in 1862, for a miner traveling to Martinez, Ca. The fine people of Martinez claim that their city was the origin & that San Fran was the destination.

4.     There is also the report that in 1910 on the east coast in New York City in the Knickerbocker Hotel, a famous immigrant bartender named Martini di Arma di Taggia came up with the first one for John D. Rockefeller. This story is doubtful, Being that there was a printed version of the martini in a cocktail recipe book called the ‘Modern Bartender’s Guide’ dated 1884 by a guy named O H Byron. This version called it a “Manhattan’ made with Gin.

5.     Also in the 1880’s there is a rifle used by the British Army. It is called the Martini & Henry Rifle, the ‘Martini Cocktail’ was said to have a kick like the rifle.

     Whichever story you ascribe to, the printed versions of this cocktail seem to have dropped the ‘Z’ from the recipes by the turn of this century. They all contribute to the 'mystique' of this illustrious cocktail

MARTINI MODERN: 

So, here we are in the 21st century, they've been anticipating this for a long time. The time is now.

For what? Well that is different for all of us... But concerning Martinis...

Well, actually... back in the 20th century...from before the end of prohibition until the early 1960s, many people enjoyed martinis, however a little differently than they do now. The style was a little more reserved & time consuming. The key was to use gin & a liberal amount of vermouth... in a glass pitcher, with ice. This was slowly stirred & enjoyed in a glass that was more like a champagne saucer rather than the traditional martini glass of today.

Anyway... in 1962 'Dr. No' came out, starring Sean Connerry as 'James Bond'.

This is where he ordered his famous martini. "Shaken not Stirred". The rest is history, as they say,,,

Now let's fast forward to tomorrow....