Martinez

Taste

On the nose it's sweeter than you'd guess from something with Martini in its family tree, the vermouth and the maraschino getting there well before the gin does. On tasting it's rich and slightly jammy up front, then the juniper cuts through the middle and the maraschino leaves that nutty cherry-stone note at the back. The orange bitters do the arguing back. If you've only ever had a modern dry Martini this will feel like a completely different drink, which it is. Old Tom gin if you've got it, London Dry if you haven't, and it's good either way.

Origin

The Martinez is the drink sitting between the Manhattan and the Martini, and the record of where it came from is a mess. Its first appearance in print is O.H. Byron's Modern Bartender's Guide in 1884, and the entry is not generous: "Same as Manhattan, only you substitute gin for whisky." No amounts, no method, nothing. The recipe everybody actually uses comes from the 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas's Bar-Tender's Guide, which is a slightly awkward source given Thomas died in 1885. Then there's the town. Martinez, California has a plaque claiming the drink was invented there for a gold miner passing through on his way to San Francisco. San Francisco's Occidental Hotel claims it was invented there for a man on his way to Martinez. It's the same story pointed in opposite directions, which is usually a sign that neither end of it happened. Tell them both anyway, they're better than the truth.