Recipe: Martinez

 

The classic cocktail, that proceeded the classic cocktail (Martini), the Martinez is a richer, sweeter, and I’d say more savory and tasty cocktail. Benefiting from an “old tom” gin, popular before the London Dry gins came to prominence, the Martinez has more depth and, to me anyway, is a more pleasurable sipping cocktail.

Martinez
1 1/2 oz. Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
1 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (we prefer Dolin for this cocktail)
¼ oz. Luxardo Maraschino
2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass.
Stir ingredients gently with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist.

There are other recipe variations we’ve seen. Some have more (some far more) gin, and many specify a London Dry gin, neither of which we think fits the tradition of this cocktail, from a time when the wine or vermouth was a major ingredient of a cocktail, not just an accent spritzed into a “martini glass”.