Ahh yes, the Iconic Martini! Made famous by James Bond and Carrie Bradshaw. You can drink them straight, on the rocks, gibson, shaken, stirred and everything in between. The Martini has come along way since the prohibition era when it first entered the scene. Lets unfold the history of one of America’s first cocktails.

When Prohibition was repealed the easy to gather Gin was brought together with Dry Vermouth and the first Martini was born. There are several stories on who actually first came up with the concoction, but we don’t really care about that junk. We want to hear the juicy bits of the story.

For a few decades the Gin Martini bounced around and was mixed with Onions, Lemons, and Olives for taste and Garnish creating the Three ‘Standard’ versions of the drink. Dirty is with Spanish Olives and a splash of Olive brine from the jar. When some one asks me for a Dirty Martini I respond with; “Do you want it Madonna dirty or Christina Aguilera Diirrrrty?” A Gibson Martini is served with Bar Onions. It gives it a sweet and savory flavor at the same time. When you order it ‘With a Twist’ you should get it with a curl of Lemon zest on the rim. Drag the zest around the rim to impart the oil for flavor when drinking.

Now this is going to get confusing. A Dry Martini has little to no Dry Vermouth in it. I recommend sprinkling a frozen Martini glass and throwing the excess out, freezing the Vermouth up the side. A Wet martini has a lot of vermouth in it. A fully wet Martini would be a 5 to 1 ratio of Vermouth.

Gin fell out of when more flavorful liquors and spritzers hit the market, because unless you love Gin, there are some tastier options out there. When Vodka came on strong a new alternative came about. The Vodka martini! Vodka is by far the most non offensive alcohol on the market, meaning the smell won’t stick with you after a couple of drinks. Thus the 2 Martini lunch was born. Order them dirty for extra calories!

These days if you attach -tini to a drink it instantly becomes approachable. The only reason you add the suffix -tini to a drink is to denote what type of glass it is severed in. I.E. Appletini, Melontini, Lemontini, etc… Strangely enough the Sex and the City staple, Cosmopolitan, is pretty close in ratios to the original. 5 to one Vodka and orange liquor, I prefer Grand Mariner. Add cranberry just for color and garnish with a Lime twist! Jazz it up with a splash of OJ if you are feeling it.

There are volumes of discussion I could keep throwing out, but if you want to hear them come down and lets share a couple drinks.  I’ll have a Ketel One Martini on the Rocks, what are you having?