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excerpt 3 from “A Most Elegant Partnership”…

The martini cocktail began appearing in a variety of bartender’s manuals in the 1880’s. All of the initial concoctions used sweeter; darker Italian vermouth, sweeter Old Tom gin, and often gum syrup, as well as a dash of orange bitters. This dark creation bore little resemblance to the one we know today. Little by little the varieties began to converge, ingredients began to fall by the wayside and people on both sides of the Atlantic settled on martini as a name, over Martinez and a host of other contenders.

By the turn of the century the martini cocktail had become far drier, the syrup had been discarded, the gin was London or Plymouth – certainly not sweet – and the vermouth was dry French, which made the drink lighter in colour. The last ingredient to be discarded was the dash of bitters, which persisited at least until the 1930’s. The movement towards dryness and clarity continued through the first three decades of the 20th Century and beyond. A little-known fact is that the cocktail took until as late as 1940 to acquire its famous ’silver bullet’ appearance, thanks to new techniques in vermouth production. Until then it was characterised by a yellowish tinge.

more to follow…

Filed under: Cocktails and Drinks by Sam