Martinez

Original versions of this recipe used Old Tom Gin or genever, as opposed to London Dry gin, based on their prevalence in the United States at the time. If they’re available to you, give them a try in this recipe.

The Martinez is a dry cocktail; if you prefer, use a sweeter Maraschino liqueur instead (Lazzaroni), or simply add a barspoon of simple syrup in order to adjust it to your palate.

Other recipes switch the Angostura bitters for orange bitters or use both; try which one you like best!

The Martinez, along with the Marguerite, are widely regarded as the predecessors to the Martini.

One of the oldest recipes we have of a Martinez refers to it as “Same as Manhattan, only you substitute gin for whiskey”.

Both of the oldest printed recipes of the Martinez we have are from the 1880’s: One from The Modern Bartender’s Guide (1884, O.H. Byron), the other from The Bar-Tender’s Guide (1887, Jerry Thomas, posthumous). It’s likely that the drink was created a decade or two prior to these prints.

There are two competing stories for who created the drink, but both of them refer to the port city of Martinez, California as the main reference to the drink's name.