010 – Martinez

A Sydney ‘lock-down’ version of the famous Martinez cocktail, the precursor to the Martini.

Sydney’s Covid Lockdown has inspired me to explore this 19th and early 20th Century Cocktail and its fascinating roots. Here is the ‘Martinez’ recipe and some Cocktail background.

Make your own ‘Locktail’ Martinez (1884-style). Here is the recipe:

METHOD — Chill a martini glass or coupe. Mix 45ml Old Tom’s style Gin (or Dutch Genever if available and you want to be super authentic), 45ml Vermouth (sweet red Italian style), 5ml of Orange Curacao (a bar spoon) and 2-to-4 dashes of Angostura Bitters in a mixing glass, strain into glass. Garnish with a lemon slice, or alternatively lemon zest or a lemon spiral.

Some recipes, such as the ‘Martinez Re-imagined’ by Plymouth Gin, suggest the inclusion of a small amount of Whisky (say 5-to-10ml), as Gin’s of the mid-1800’s era often had hints of ‘grain and wood’, similar to Whisky and even from inclusion of Whisky spirit in the production process. Some later recipes also call for a bar-spoon of Maraschino and Boker’s or Orange Bitters instead of Agnostura. You can see some of this in the ‘taste-test’ video below:

HISTORICAL NOTES – The ‘Martinez’ is considered the precursor to the Martini, most likely appearing in around the mid 1800’s, and first published in print in O.H. Byron’s ‘The Modern Bartender’ in 1884.

Like many recipes, the instruction is to swap a base ingredient with another recipe. Byron’s resulted in some confusion as there are two ‘Manhattan’ recipes, and conceivably therefore, two Martinez variants. One with Italian Vermouth and Curacao, the other with French Vermouth and sweet syrup. Many commentators have assumed (due to the order of the recipe book) that the Martinez is based on O.H. Byron’s ‘Manhattan No.2’, which (if you watched the video above) is, I believe, the better base for a quality Martinez.

Slightly later, for example in Jerry Thomas’ 1887 Bartender’s Guide, the Manhattan recipe (and presumably therefore the Martinez), has shifted to include Curacao OR Maraschino, and also a preference, common in the USA at the time, to use Boker’s Bitters which had more orange notes than Angostura. Boker’s Bitters did not survive the Prohibition era in the US (1920-1933) and most more contemporary recipes use ‘Orange Bitters’.

Like many Vermouth heavy recipes, there are also many variants using different Vermouth combinations, including the commonly changed ‘Perfect’ variations that blend equal-parts sweet and dry Vermouth. The garnish seems to have also changed at times from lemon-focused to orange. Lemon highlights the dry Gin and Orange works well with the Maraschino and Orange flavours usually connected with this Cocktail.

Difford’s Guide, who are an amazing resource for any Cocktail aficionado, have there own preferred Martinez recipe, as well as a wonderfully detailed history of the cocktail, you can read here.

Although there are other candidates for the ‘father of the Martini’, such as the Martine and the Marguerite, this quality cocktail still survives in it’s own right, and is worthy of inclusion in any classic Cocktail list.

THE OFFICIAL MIX – The IBA ‘Martinez’ version is here. It is 45ml London Dry Gin, and 45ml Sweet Red Vermouth, a bar-spoon of Maraschino, and 2-dashes of Orange Bitters, garnished with lemon zest.

TASTING NOTES – For me, having tasted a number of the recipe variants for the ‘Martinez’, the best is still the original 1884 variant. O.H. Byron’s ‘Martinez’, based on his record for the ‘Manhattan No.2’ using Italian sweet red Vermouth and a small amount of Orange Curacao. Add a dash of Maraschino or a dash of quality Whiskey (or Whisky) if either of those is your personal flavour profile.

LOCKTAIL CHANGES – I have made this tenth Sydney Covid Lockdown Cocktail – Locktail – another homage to the cocktails of the late 1800s.

As mentioned above, I have gone for the classic 1884 mix, or as close as I can. I have used Never Never Gin, which is a very ‘juniper forward’ gin with some heat profile. A brilliant Gin that is great in Cocktails like an Americano or Manhattan – a perfect starting point for this mix. I have used Oscar 697 Rosso as the Italian Vermouth, although new(ish), it uses old-style methods to create an amazing contemporary Vermouth. I can’t speak highly enough of this Vermouth and as a bonus the packaging was designed by a Sydney creative. A small amount of Curacao (must be orange – not blue) and 4-dashes of Angostura Bitters, you can swap for Orange Bitters or Boker’s Bitters (remake) if you really want to up the orange notes. This is a great Cocktail with lots of room to play with the ingredient flavour profile.

YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’.

Let me know what you think.

Cocktails you’d like reinvented.

Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.

Well that’s a wrap on Cocktail’s from the 1800’s, coming up next the early 1900’s – the forward list is here. Or take a look at the previous ones, the Stinger, the Gimlet, the Covid Reviver. the Dry Martini, the Old Fashioned, the Manhattan, the Jimmy McCollins, the Americano and the Sazerac.