A lush, spirit-forward sipper that drinks like a Manhattan with gin where the whiskey would be — gin and sweet vermouth in equal measure, sweetened with a whisper of maraschino and lifted by orange bitters. Stirred cold and served up with an expressed lemon twist, it glows a deep reddish amber and drinks richer and more aromatic than a dry Martini, the lemon oil brightening the vermouth's dark fruit.
Garnish: Lemon Peel
Stirred · Coupe · Up
add
Combine the gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and orange bitters in a mixing glass with ice.
stir
Stir well until thoroughly chilled and diluted.
strain
Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass, served up.
express
Express a lemon twist over the surface and drop it in or perch it on the rim.
Who mixed the Martinez first is unclear — one story credits Jerry Thomas at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, another a bartender called Richelieu working a saloon in the town of Martinez, California, and neither claim can be confirmed. Thomas's posthumous 1887 Bar-Tender's Guide set it down in print as Old Tom gin, Italian vermouth, maraschino and Boker's bitters, shaken rather than stirred. The modern standard listed by the IBA swaps in London dry gin and orange bitters and is stirred, and the drink is widely regarded as a forerunner of the Martini.