The martini is a cocktail made with gin and dry white vermouth. Over the years, the martini has become somewhat of an icon, having been referred to as the "King of Cocktails". H. L. Mencken once called the martini "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet"; E. B. White called it "the elixir of quietude." It is also the proverbial drink of the old "three-martini lunch" of business executives, now largely abandoned as part of companies' "fitness for duty" programs. cocktail In general, a cocktail is a mix of several substances, usually liquids. ... Gin and tonic This article concerns the beverage. ... Vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with aromatic herbs and spices (aromatized in the trade) in recipes that are closely-guarded trade secrets. ... The Savior (1410s, by Andrei Rublev) An icon (from Greek , eikon, image) is an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it, or by analogy, as in semiotics; in computers an icon is a symbol on the monitor... H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956), better known as H. L. Mencken, was a twentieth century journalist, satirist and social critic, a cynic and a freethinker, known as the Sage of Baltimore and the American Nietzsche. He is often regarded as one of the... Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American essayist, author, and noted prose stylist. ...

While variations are legion, a standard modern martini is made by combining approximately two and a half ounces of gin and one half ounce of dry vermouth with ice in a cocktail shaker or mixing glass. The ingredients are chilled, either by stirring or shaking, then strained and served "straight up" (without ice) in a chilled cocktail glass, and garnished with either an olive or a twist (a strip of lemon peel, usually squeezed or twisted to express volatile citric oils onto the surface of the drink). Capers or cocktail onions are sometimes used as substitute garnishes. An onion-garnished martini is properly known as a Gibson as it was created by Charles Dana Gibson, a "Life" illustrator famous for his ‘Gibson Girl” illustrations. Gin and tonic This article concerns the beverage. ... Vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with aromatic herbs and spices (aromatized in the trade) in recipes that are closely-guarded trade secrets. ... A natural, 4 tonne, block of ice on a beach in Iceland Icicles Ice is frozen water (one of its three phases of matter), and thereby a transparent, crystal, soft and fragile solid. ... A cocktail shaker is a device consisting of a container and a lid, with a strainer, used to mix beverages (usually alcoholic) by shaking. ... An amber tinted cocktail glass A cocktail glass is a narrow drinking glass having a stem and a wide, shallow, inverted cone fixed above it to hold liquid. ... Binomial name Olea europaea L. The Olive (Olea europaea) is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean region, from Syria and the maritime parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea. ... Binomial name Citrus × limon (L.) Burm. ... Binomial name Capparis spinosa Linnaeus, 1753 A Caper (Capparis spinosa) is a shrub from the Mediterranean region. ... Binomial name Allium cepa L. Onion in the general sense can be used for any plant in the Genus Allium but used without qualifiers usually means Allium cepa L., also called the garden onion. ... Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 _ December 23, 1944) was an American graphic artist, noted for his creation of one of the first pin-up girls, the Gibson Girl. Woman Jurors by Charles Dana Gibson, 1902 He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. ...

While the standard martini may call for a 5:1 ratio of distilled spirits to wine, many afficiondos may reduce the proportion of vermouth drastically. This gave rise to stories such as martinis being made by just passing the cork of the vermouth above the glass, along with similar conceits about how little vermouth, i.e., how "dry," one's martinis are.(see history below)

Another common but controversial variation is the vodka martini, which is prepared in exactly the same way as a standard martini, with vodka being substituted for gin as the base spirit. In the 1990s, the vodka martini supplanted the traditional gin-based martini in popularity. Today, when bar and restaurant customers order "a martini," they frequently have in mind a drink made with vodka. Martini purists decry this development: while few object to the drink itself, they strenuously object to it being called "a martini." The martini, they insist, is a gin-based cocktail; this variation should be designated as such, with the name "vodka martini" (it may also be called a "vodkatini" or a "kangaroo"). The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, the last decade of the 20th Century. ...

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Martini

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History of the drink

The origin of the martini is uncertain. By one widely accepted account, the martini is a descendant of the Martinez, an older, sweeter, but similar cocktail, which consists of (approximately) two ounces of sweet vermouth, one ounce gin (specifically, Old Tom gin, a sweetened variant), two dashes maraschino cherry liquid, and one dash bitters, shaken with ice, strained, and served with a twist of lemon. The Martinez purportedly originated in California in the 1870s, probably either in San Francisco or in the town of Martinez. Some versions of this account are more specific, crediting the Martinez to Jerry Thomas, a famous and influential 19th century bartender working the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco in the late 1850s or 1860s. Maraschino cherries are cherries that have been marinated in food colouring, sugar syrup, sometimes alcohol, and flavouring. ... Bitters are an alcoholic herbal preparation with a bitter flavor. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 3rd 410,000 km² 402. ... Events and Trends Technology The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Martinez Court House, California Martinez is the county seat of Contra Costa County, California. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events and Trends Technology Production of steel revolutionised by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Science Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, putting forward the theory of evolution... // Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ...

In the book, The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them, copyright 1907, written by William T. Boothby, the recipe for Dry Martini Cocktail (à la Charlie Shaw, Los Angeles, Cal) instructs, "into a mixing glass place some cracked ice, two dashes of Orange bitters, half a jigger of (dry) French vermouth, and half a jigger of dry English gin. Stir well until thoroughly chilled, strain into a stem cocktail-glass, squeeze a piece of lemon peel over the top and serve with an olive." Other than the bitters and the ratio of vermouth to gin, this is remarkably similar to a modern martini cocktail. The reference to California is consistent, but other early martini history cites San Francisco rather than Los Angeles. 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the largest city in California. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 3rd 410,000 km² 402. ...

William Grimes, restaurant critic for the New York Times avers (in Straight Up or On the Rocks: the Story of the American Cocktail) that the dry martini was invented by Signor Martini di Arma di Taggia, the bartender at the Knickerbocker Hotel, in New York, in 1912. The fact that numerous published references to the martini predate 1912 discounts this theory. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Official language(s) English Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The martini was an established American cocktail at the beginning of the 20th century, but did not attain its pre-eminent status as the classic cocktail until later in the century. Perhaps paradoxically, Prohibition did a great deal to elevate the martini's stature. Americans' preferred tipple at that time -- whiskey -- requires skillful blending and long aging, whereas cheap but (marginally) drinkable "bathtub gin" is relatively easy to produce, so martinis were more readily available in the era of the speakeasy. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol. ... Whisky (or whiskey) is an alcoholic beverage distilled from grain, often including malt, which has then been aged in wooden barrels. ... A speakeasy was an establishment that was used for selling and drinking alcoholic beverages during the period of U.S. history known as Prohibition, when selling or buying alcohol was illegal. ...

The Prohibition-era martini was quite "wet" by today's standards. With the repeal of Prohibition, and the ready availability of quality gin, the drink became progressively dryer. (A "dry" martini is one with relatively little vermouth. One might say that a "very dry" martini is essentially a glass of cold gin, though the ice will contribute some water to the final drink.) This trend toward dryness eventually reached fetishistic extremes, and became the source of a considerable body of martini anecdotes, wit, and lore. One might prepare a martini by waving the cap of a vermouth bottle over the glass, or observing that "there was vermouth in the house once." Winston Churchill chose to forgo vermouth completely, and instead simply bowed in the direction of France, while General Patton suggested pointing the gin bottle in the general direction of Italy. Ernest Hemingway liked to order a "Montgomery", which was a martini mixed at a gin:vermouth ratio of 15:1 (these supposedly being the odds Field Marshall Montgomery wanted to have before going into battle). In a classic bit of stage business in the 1955 play Auntie Mame sophisticated pre-adolescent Patrick Dennis offers a martini, which he prepares by swilling a drop of vermouth in the glass, then tossing it out before filling the glass with gin. Similarly, in the 1958 movie Teacher's Pet, Clark Gable mixes a martini by turning the bottle of vermouth upside-down before running the moistened cork around the rim of the glass and filling it with gin. Coating the cubes is a method of adding the flavor of vermouth by pouring the vermouth in separately then pouring it out before pouring in the gin. Also, atomizers similar to those used for perfume were sometimes used to dispense a token amount of vermouth. The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... General George Smith Patton Jr. ... Ernest Hemingway, 1950 Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist and short story writer whose works, drawn from his wide range of experiences in World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, are characterized by terse minimalism and understatement; they exerted... Bernard Law Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (November 17, 1887 - March 24, 1976) was a British military officer during World War II often referred to as Monty. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Broadway poster Auntie Mame is a 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis that chronicles his madcap adventures growing up as the ward of his deceased fathers eccentric sister. ... See also: 1957 in film 1958 1959 in film 1950s in film years in film film // Events February 16- In the Money is released on this date. ... Teachers Pet is a 1958 film starring Clark Gable and Doris Day, directed by George Seaton and written by Fay Kanin and Michael Kanin. ... Clark Gable from the cover of Clark Gable: Biography, Filmography, Bibliography by Chrystopher J. Spicer Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 —November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, and the biggest box-office star of the early sound film era. ... Atomization is common practice to inject the fuel into the combustor (or premixer) through a nozzle, which atomizes the fuel. ... Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, objects, and living spaces a lasting and pleasant smell. ...

The martini's popularity waned in the health-conscious, wine-and-spritzer-drinking seventies, but resurged in the late eighties and nineties. During this "martini renaissance," vodka supplanted gin as the most commonly requested base spirit, and nouveau variations proliferated: the green apple martini, the chocolate martini, and so forth. Whether the more extreme variations of this era may truly be called martinis remains a topic of vigorous debate. Wine is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting grapes or grape juice. ... A spritzer is a tall, chilled drink, usually made with white wine and soda water. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, the last decade of the 20th Century. ... Binomial name Malus domestica Borkh. ... Chocolate comes in dark, milk, and white varieties with cocoa solids contributing to the brown coloration. ...

Martini lore and mixology

Western culture has created a virtual mythology around the martini, in part because of the many legendary historical and fictional figures who favoured it. Churchill, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Cary Grant and James Bond among them. The dry martini is also sometimes called "The Silver Bullet" (rarely used today) because it "is clear, potent and never misses its mark". The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... F.Scott Fitzgerald, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an Irish-American Jazz Age novelist and short story writer. ... Ernest Hemingway, 1950 Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist and short story writer whose works, drawn from his wide range of experiences in World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, are characterized by terse minimalism and understatement; they exerted... Cary Grant Archibald (Archie) Alexander Leach, known by his screen name Cary Grant, (January 18, 1904 - November 29, 1986), was a British-born actor who starred in American films. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ...

The classic martini of yore was stirred, "so as not to bruise the gin." W. Somerset Maugham declared that "Martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, so that the molecules lie sensuously one on top of the other," while James Bond from the Ian Fleming novels ordered his "shaken, not stirred", a drink properly called a Bradford. W. Somerset Maugham as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was an English author, best remembered for writing the James Bond series of novels as well as a childrens story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ...

In the novel Casino Royale, Bond's recipe is specified in more detail as made with three measures of gin (Gordon's was Bond's preference), one measure of vodka (Russian or Polish is preferred), and half a measure of Kina Lillet aperitif, shaken until ice-cold, and with a large, thin slice of lemon peel for garnish (properly called a "Vesper" after his love interest in the book). By the second Bond novel, Live and Let Die, Bond was drinking vodka martinis, a trend that continued when 007 moved to the screen in 1962. A 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition Casino Royale is the first James Bond novel by author Ian Fleming. ... 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition Live and Let Die is the second James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, first published in 1954. ...

The concept of "bruising the gin" as a result of shaking a martini is an oft-debated topic. A shaken martini is different from stirred for a few reasons. The shaking action breaks up the ice and adds more water, slightly weakening the drink but also altering the taste. Some would say the shaken martini has a "more rounded" taste. Others, usually citing hard-to-track-down scientific studies, say that shaking causes more of a certain class of molecules (aldehydes) to bond with oxygen, resulting in a "sharper" taste. Shaking also adds tiny air bubbles, which can lead to a cloudy drink instead of clear. Some martini devotees believe the vermouth is more evenly distributed by shaking, which can alter the flavor and texture of the beverage as well. In some places, a shaken martini is referred to as a "Martini James Bond".

Although Charles Dana Gibson is most likely responsible for the creation of the Gibson martini (where a pickled onion serves as the garnish), the details are debated and several alternate stories exist. In one story, Gibson challenged Charley Connolly, the bartender of the Players' Club in New York City, to improve upon the martini's recipe, so Mr. Connolly simply substituted the olive with an onion and named the drink after the patron. Other stories involve different Gibsons, such as an apocryphal American diplomat who served in Europe during Prohibition. Although he was a teetotaller, he often had to attend receptions where cocktails were served. To avoid an awkward situation, Gibson would ask the staff to fill his martini glass with cold water and garnish it with a small onion so that he could pick it out among the gin drinks. For $75,000, Edwin Booth purchased 16 Gramercy Park, New York City. ... Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol. ... Teetotalism is the principle or practice of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. ...

The martini has become a symbol for cocktails and nightlife in general; American bars often have a picture of a conical martini glass with an olive on their signs. In Martini, Straight Up: The Classic American Cocktail, Lowell Edmunds, a classics professor and doyen of martini lore, analyzes the cocktail's symbolic potency in considerable depth. Nightlife is the collective term for any entertainment that is available and more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. ...

Over the years

Although the original Russian Vodka Martini is still popular, colorful, flavored vodka martinis are rapidly becoming the trend of new drinkers, as well as the vodka veterans. Unlike gin, vodka has a neutral flavor which allows it to easily mix with other flavors to make a wide variety of flavored martinis.

New specialty martinis are being made everyday, using many different combinations of fresh fruit and vegetable juices, splashes of cream, and brightly colored liqueurs.

Instead of the typical cocktail olive, cocktail onion, or lemon twist, unique garnishes are being used in the new flavored martinis. Some of these garnishes are marinated capers, fresh herbs, or olives stuffed with blue cheese, anchovies, or sun-dried tomatoes.

Martini variations

Many variations exist on the standard martini described above.

• A vodka martini (or vodkatini or kangaroo) is made the same way but with vodka instead of gin, and more often uses lemon rind as the garnish. This is the most common variation, and in fact is more popular than the original in most locations. It was made famous by the James Bond movies as James Bond's favorite beverage. He is known for requesting it "shaken, not stirred"
• An in-and-out martini is a very dry gin martini prepared by pouring a small measure of vermouth into a shaker, shaking it to coat the ice, and then pouring out and disposing of any remaining vermouth. The standard amount of gin is then shaken over this vermouth-tinged ice and served normally. Former U.S. president Richard Nixon was said to favour this.
• A perfect martini is technically one made with a mixture of dry and sweet vermouth, although in many bars the term is misused as a qualitative one.
• A Churchill is made with dry gin, stirred, with an unopened bottle of vermouth waved above the shaker.
• An apple martini (also sour apple martini or appletini) is a vodka martini with an apple flavoring such as apple schnapps, sometimes with apple, lemon or lime juice, and is often garnished with a slice of Granny Smith apple. Some people call this an "apple cosmopolitan".
• A dirty martini has some of the brine (at least a teaspoon) from the olive jar added. (FDR was partial to a dirty martini.)
• A naked martini is made without ice, but with the ingredients and glass chilled.
• A sweet martini is made with sweet red vermouth, and may be garnished with a maraschino cherry instead of an olive.
• A sake martini substitutes a dry, clear sake for the vermouth.
• A Gibson is a standard dry martini that is garnished with cocktail onions instead of olives.
• A tequila martini substitutes tequila for gin.
• An akvavit martini substitutes akvavit for gin.
• A gin salad is made like the ordinary martini but with three olives and two cocktail onions as garnish.

There are literally thousands of additional variants. In botany, a rind is the thick outer skin of various structures such as fruit. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Binomial name Malus domestica Borkh. ... Schnapps is a type of distilled beverage. ... Lime is actually an ambiguous term in the context of fruit, referring to a number of different citruses with typically round, green to yellow fruits, 3-6 cm in diameter, generally containing sour pulp, and frequently associated with the lemon. ... Granny Smith is an apple cultivar originating in Australia around 1865 from a chance seedling propagated by Marie Ana (Granny) Smith. ... Brine is water saturated or nearly saturated with salt. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... Maraschino cherries are cherries that have been marinated in food colouring, sugar syrup, sometimes alcohol, and flavouring. ... Sake barrels at Itsukushima Shrine Sake (é…’; pronounced IPA: SAH-KEH in Japanese, but often IPA: SAH-ki by English speakers) is a Japanese alcoholic beverage, brewed from rice. ... A Cocktail onion is usually a pearl onion pickled in a brine with small amounts of tumeric and paprika but in northern California cuisine in some haute bars there may use sliced red onion pickled in vinegar. ... Various brands of tequila Tequila is a strong distilled alcoholic beverage made primarily in the area surrounding Tequila, a town in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, 50 km from Guadalajara. ... A bottle and glass of Linie brand akvavit Akvavit, also known as aquavit, is a Scandinavian distilled beverage of typically about 40% alcohol by volume. ...

Sometimes the term "martini" is used to refer to other mostly-hard-liquor cocktails such as Manhattans, cosmopolitans, and ad-hoc or local concoctions whose only commonality with the drink is the cocktail glass in which they are served. Chefs with a more whimsical bent are even producing dessert "martinis" which are not a drink at all, but are merely served in martini glasses. A Manhattan is a cocktail made with rye whiskey or bourbon, vermouth (proportions vary from a sweet 1:1 to a dry 4:1), and a dash of bitters, stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass, garnished with a Maraschino cherry with a stem. ... A Cosmopolitan is a cocktail made with vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and lime juice. ... An amber tinted cocktail glass A cocktail glass is a narrow glass stem with a wide, shallow, inverted cone fixed above it to hold liquid. ...

References

• Conrad, Barnaby III. The Martini: An Illustrated History of an American Classic. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1995. (ISBN 0-8118-0717-7)
• Edmunds, Lowell. Martini, Straight Up: The Classic American Cocktail. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1998.
• Grimes, William. Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002.
• Miller, Anistatia R. and Jared M. Brown. Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.
• Regan, Gary. The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2003.
• Tastings: The Beverage Tasting Institute. Eds. Laverick, Charles, and Marc Dornan. 25 May 2004. <http://tastings.com>.
• Trevithick C.C., et al. Shaken not stirred: bioanalytical study of the antioxidant activities of martinis. British Medical Journal 1999 Dec 18; 319(7225): 1600-1602.

May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Martini Recipes Martini Recipe Database.
• Martini discussion forum with recipes and martini chat.
• The Martini FAQ

See also

• List of cocktails