Martini Cocktail – an abridged history
Excerpt from “A most elegant partnership”…
“Who knows how far the martini cocktail would have gone on its own. It had the looks, so sleek and pure; it had power and taste, and it had enough sophistication to make an impression on anybody. But if a drink is to define an age, capture the imagination decade on decade and become as timeless a classic as exists, then it can’t be asked to do everything. The martini cocktail was crying out for a long-term partner, something that could really make it stand out from the crowd. It needed a glass it could call its own. It flirted with classic wine goblets and dallied with champagne coupes, but things never really worked out.
Finally, when the martini cocktail tail was already about 50 years old, in the 1920’s, it got what it was looking for. Slim-stemmed, with an angular, dynamic conical bowl, the cocktail glass gave the martini cocktail an eloquent magic, provided an identity and its irresistible, enchanting voice. The two completed and complimented each other. Together they put down the marker for how elegant it could be to hold a drink in your hand.
The following excerpts from “A Most Elegant Partnership” are about how exquisite taste and brilliant design come together to form one of the icons of the century. They are the story of the love affair between the martini cocktail and its glass, and how the act of putting this ice-cold fusion of gin and vermouth to your lips came to become the definitive moment for cocktail drinkers. It is also the story of how taste and design continue to influence the martini cocktail today…”
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