As with the creation of many cocktails, there are differing arguments as to who was the first to create the Martini. The legends behind the Martini have varying recipes and names, none of which exactly fit the Martini recipe that exists today. A modern day Dry Martini consists of Gin and a varying amount of dry white Vermouth depending on taste. It can be garnished with an olive, a twist, or a cocktail onion.


 The most detailed history starts with a drink called the Martinez created around 1862. This particular drink called for four parts red, sweet Vermouth to one part Gin, garnished with a cherry. The first one was made with and aromatic bitters and Old Tom Gin, which was very Juniper and sweet compared with todayÕs standards. The transformation into a Martini happened gradually over time. First the Old Tom Gin was replaced with London Dry. Orange Bitters took the place of the aromatic bitters. People began to replace the red Vermouth with a white, dry Vermouth. The proportions of the drink eventually became equal parts and soon the Dry Martini appeared, olive included.


If that story does not excite the taste buds, then perhaps some of these will.


Jerry Thomas of San Francisco printed a bartending book in 1887 with a Martinez recipe. It called for one dash of Bitters, two dashes of Maraschino, one wine glass of Vermouth, two lamps of ice and a pony of Old Tom Gin, served with a quarter slice of lemon.


In 1870 at Julio Richelieu's saloon in Martinez, California a small drink was mixed for an old, traveling miner. Julio placed an olive in the glass before handing it to the man, then named it after his town. Martinez, California continues to claim to be the birth place of the Martini.


There is a story that claims the drink's name came from the Martini and Henry rifle used by the British army around 1871. The key line was that the rifle and the drink shared a strong kick.


Thomas Stewart published Stewart's Fancy Drinks and How to Mix Them in New York, 1896. The book contained a recipe for a drink called the Marquerite which called for one dash orange bitters, 2/3 Plymouth Gin, and 1/3 French Vermouth. This particular recipe seems closest to today's version of the Martini.


The first mention of the word Martini appeared in the New and Improved Illustrated Bartending Manual published by Harry Johnson in 1888.


Last but not least is the most recent story in Martini history and possibly the most reliable. In 1911, the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York, head barman, Martini di Arma di Taggia, mixed half and half London Gin, Noilly Prat Vermouth and orange bitters. He then chilled the drink on ice and strained it into a chilled glass. The regulars at the Knickerbocker asked for variations of the drink and added the olive.


No matter the history, the quest for the perfect Martini continues. Martini bars abound and the popularity seems to grow with each generation. The variations of the drink have grown to infinite proportions, but to the true aficionados the Dry Martini will never die.