Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 4)

Tags

Cocktail, Gin, martini, Vermouth, Vodka

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas and will have a Happy New Year. I wrote about New Year’s cocktails in 2009, and I’m just not feeling inspired for ringing in 2012. The cocktails are still amazing and unusual, so I strongly recommend you look at the post for a Champagne cocktail suggestion for New Years.  Both drinks are really easy and quick.

I’m writing this blog post in advance so I will be in Kansas traversing the eastern third of the state. I’ve realized that 2011 was a good year for me. I was out-of-town for about 9 weeks. I had a great time. I traversed the countryside and got into a really good law school. This year, I will be looking back at the great year I was fortunate enough to have. So, thank you who helped make this year great. At the time of writing, my blog is over 5,000 hits, which is crazy, because I hit just over 1,000 hits in May. It is certainly not the insanity of the millions of viral hits, but those hits are important. I have had a number of you tell me that I’m a great writer and you like reading the blog. I hope you have had as much fun reading this and encouraging me, as I have had writing it. I like and need this creative outlet into my brain.

This year, I’m feeling simple, which is why I want to keep exploring the martini. A martini has few ingredients but somehow exists in infinite permutations. To quote H.L. Mencken, “The martini: the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet.” It’s a beautiful drink.

Evolution, Part 4: From Gin to Vodka

You can’t write about the martini, without writing about the evolution from gin to vodka. There are several theories of when the vodka martini first appeared in print. The first theory is that the vodka martini recipe appeared in a 1939 advertisement for “Vodka Kiprisky.” This theory is perpetuated by Ted Haigh, in his book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. He is also the curator for the Museum of the American cocktail.  However, in Straight up or on The rock: The story of the American Cocktail  by William Grimes, he states that the vodka martini was originally put in print in 1934 in Esquire in their article “Top 10 Best Cocktails of 1934.” I cannot find a copy of that ad, but I emailed the Museum of the American Cocktail, and they sent me a copy of the recipe as printed in 1934. They also have a great blog, which I highly recommend.

In 1934, the year after Prohibition, the drink was originally called the vodka cocktail. From the recipe, though, this obviously evolves from the martini, that not including it would be doing you a disservice. It is one of the few times I will include a drink not called the martini, but you’ll see why.

So, on to the first time that I have found that the vodka martini ever appeared in print.

The Vodka Cocktail

3 parts Vodka

1/2 part Italian (or dry) vermouth

1/2 part French (or sweet) vermouth)

Stir over ice. Strain into a martini glass.

Evaluation

It’s interesting because we see vodka merging with the tastes of pre and post-Prohibition era gin martinis. In Part 2, the drink was half gin and half vermouth, but either kind of vermouth could be used. Here we see an example of a perfect martini where the types of vermouth are in equal proportions. The drink is also clearly influenced by the post-Prohibition martini, written about in Part 3, martinis moved away from the half gin, half vermouth from the early days.

This drink is a 3 to 1, so think is totally my speed, but as we all know this drink was quickly abandoned. I recommend it to the vermouth lovers out there, but there are so few of us left.

This martini necessitates a proper bottle of vodka. My personal favorite is Ketel One, so prices will be based on that vodka.

Cost

Vodka: $25 per 750 mL bottle

Dry Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Sweet Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Total cost: $41.

As always, happy and safe drinking.

 

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Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 3)

Tags

Cocktail, Gin, martini, Vermouth

So, I’m done with law school finals, and I get to pretend to have a life again! I’m hoping to get my blog in order, so that way it’s not 3 blog posts in a week and then zero for the next few months.

So, I have no idea how finals went. For those of you who were smart enough not to go to law school or talk to law school students, this is how exams work. You walk in feeling prepared, and then the one small point about the law is the one not in your outline, and then you’re graded against everyone else. Law school finals are a real curve and not a fake curve in undergraduate when the curve meant “The highest grade missed 4 points, so we’re moving everyone’s grade up by 4.” It’s a real bell curve with a target median. So not only do you not know how you did on the final, but you have no idea how you did relative to each other. It’s a sadistic little system.

But on to more important things:

Evolution of the Martini, Part 3

In Part 1, we looked at a martini recipe from 1895. Then we moved into Prohibition in Part 2, and looked at martini recipes from 1934, but that focused on how Martinis were made during Prohibition.

Now, we’re going to take a look at a post-Prohibition cocktail, although it’s from a book published the same year. 1934 was a big year for cocktails. The next, which will be the recipe for the first published vodka martini, is from Esquire from 1934, which makes sense because the 21st Amendment which repealed Prohibition, passed in December 1933.

Prohibition was probably the most defining moment of how Americans drank liquor of the 20th century. In 1934, everything changed. As we’ll see below, there was no more bathtub gin, spirits like brandy could be brought in from France, alcohol tasted better and was less likely to kill you. Americans went back to wanting to taste the booze.

So, from Burke’s Complete Cocktail & Drinking Recipes by Harman Burney Burke, published 1934

The Martini

2 oz Gin

1 tsp French Vermouth

Orange Bitters

Place all ingredients over ice. STIR. Pour into a martini glass.

Evaluation

As we can see, this is a huge shift away from the Prohibition cocktail, which was half gin and half vermouth. The martini is getting a lot drier. So, if you know anyone who likes a 12 to 1 martini, they like the 30s martini.

As many of my readers know, I am a gin martini fan, however, I like my vermouth. I am not afraid of it. So this martini is too dry for me. Although, I think it beats the vermouth rinse martini or my least favorite: the vaporizing of vermouth across the room from the glass martini. Or, as I like to call it, “I don’t want to admit that I really just want gin shaken on the rocks, but I’m not an alcoholic” martini.

Cost

I think the less vermouth you use, the better the gin needs to be. I would go with Hendricks, Tanqueray, or Bombay.

Gin: $30 per 750 mL bottle

Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Orange bitters: $5 per 12 oz bottle.

Total cost: $43

As always, happy and safe drinking.

Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 2)

Tags

Cocktail, Cocktail glass, Drink, Gin, martini, Orange bitters, Vermouth

Like I said in my last post, we’re starting at the beginning of the martini and moving forward through time. In Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 1), I found the oldest recipe for a martini that I could find and moved forward.

Now, we’re onto the Martini from the 1930s.

We also see the “Dry Martini” come into development for the first time.

These two drink recipes are from What Shall We Drink? by Magnus Bredenbek (1934)

The Martini (for 2)

3/4 of a glass of a cocktail glass of sweet gin

3/4 of a glass of Dry or Sweet Vermouth

Sweeten with “gum” to taste

4 dashes of orange bitters

The “Dry” Martini

3/4 of a glass of a cocktail glass of sweet gin

3/4 of a glass of Dry or Sweet Vermouth (not the sweeter type)

Sweeten with “gum” to taste (but not as much as a Martini for 2)

4 dashes of orange bitters

Evaluation

Note: A standard martini glass is 4 oz.

Also note: gum or “gomme” syrup for mixed drinks is simple syrup that has added gum arabic.

We can see from the 30’s that there was a tendency to create a sweeter drink that we have returned to. I don’t use simple syrup in martinis because I feel like that removes the drink’s integrity. However, if the drink is too herbal or bitter for you, add simple syrup and tell people you’re drinking it 1930’s style.

Given how we think of dry martinis, this is obviously a misnomer. Our concept of a “dry” martini is nothing like this. But, since I’m pro vermouth, I obviously like both.

I’ve written about the American Classic, and we can tell that it comes from the 1930’s version of a martini. Rather than adding either French (sweet) or Italian (dry) vermouth, we add equal parts of both until the ratio is 1 part gin to 1 part vermouth.

I love these martinis.

Cost

The cost is about the same for each drink, so I’m going to do one.

Gin: $20 per 750 mL bottle

Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Orange bitters: $5 per 12 oz bottle.

Total Cost: $33

Cost per Drink:

Gin: $1.20

Vermouth: $0.48

Bitters: $0.01

Total Cost: $1.69

Total Cost: $0.85/drink.

A fun martini quote:

I love to drink Martinis,
Two at the very most
After three I’m under the table,
After four I’m under my host.

–Dorothy Parker

As always, happy and safe drinking. Next post: The Transition to vodka.

Martinis, Evolution, and the Evolution of the Martini (Part 1)

Tags

Cocktail, Gin, martini, Vermouth

Hello, again, Gentle Reader. It hasn’t been as long this time.

One of the things that they do stress in law school is how much you change, grow, and evolve during law school. The purpose of law school is to train you “to think like a lawyer” as my Criminal Law Professor tells us. The way they do this is incredibly painful. They take you as you are, strip you down to your barest essentials, and then build you back up in a thinking, breathing, lawyering machine. I get told this daily.

Evolution has been on my mind. Who we are. Who we were. The process of getting between those two. As it so often does, this makes me think about booze.

I’ve decided to do a serious on the martinis. As you know, I generally shy away from the classics, because everyone has written about them. We’re going to start from the very beginning.

Going back to 1895:

The Martini

The martini is iconic. Nick and Nora Charles throwing back martinis while solving a mystery. James Bond sipping while uncovering international plots designed to overthrow Western society. F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s The Great Gatsby. We associate the martini  with leisure and sophistication.  While that association with the martini has never left, would the original martini recognize itself?

The original martini was completely different in its inception than who it is now.

Looking at Modern American Drinks by George Kappeler (1895), this is the recipe for the Martini Cocktail:

1/2 jigger of Tom Gin

1/2 jigger Italian (dry) Vermouth

3 dashes bitters

Evaluation

Isn’t that crazy? I like vermouth, but I think this might almost be too much vermouth for me. I’ve never had it with this much Italian vermouth before, but I do like many of my martinis half liquor, half vermouth as you may remember from my American Classic or Manhattan, Perfect? post. But this is the original incantation of the martini. Or at least the earliest published martini recipe that I could find.

If anyone can an older martini recipe let me know.

Cost

It’s really difficult to find Old Tom’s Gin now. Although if anyone ever sees a bottle and wants to gift me a bottle, let me know.

Gin: $20 per 750 mL bottle

Vermouth: $8 per 750 mL bottle

Orange bitters: $5 per 12 oz bottle.

Total Cost: $33

Cost per Drink:

1/2 jigger = 0.75 oz.

Gin: $0.60

Vermouth: $0.24

Bitters: $0.01

Total Cost: $0.85/drink.

As always, happy and safe drinking. Next up: the 1930’s cocktail!

Suffrage and Alcohol

Tags

Anna Howard Shaw, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Prohibition, Susan B. Anthony, Temperance Movement, Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Women's history, Women's History Month

It’s nearing the end of Women’s History Month, and I have decided to give tribute to the Suffragettes — my favorite era of Women’s History. I have just finished watching Iron Jawed Angels, which is a must see for anyone interested in the Suffragette movement.

Recently, in the American political sphere, we have discussed this issue of transparency with donations to political parties and political movements. This is an ongoing political issue. Why do corporations pay for anti-civil right campaigns? We can trace this back to Suffrage (perhaps further, I’m not a historian.)

Many people who have taken an American history class know that Suffrage was tied to and came out of the Abolitionist movement. After abolition, many people think of the suffrage movement is a political movement without ties to others. However, after the government abolished slavery in 1863 and the civil war ended in 1865, suffrage became tied to another: The Temperance Movement.

NAWSA: The National Women’s Suffrage Association had 4 presidents of the organization between 1890 (when it was founded) until 1920 (when the organization closed and become the League of Women’s Voter’s.)

The presidents of the organization:

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) 1890-1892: Cofounder of the Women’s Temperance Movement with Susan B. Anthony
• Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) 1892-1900: Cofounder of the Women’s Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton
• Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947) 1900-1904 and 1915-1920: Member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
• Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919) 1904-1915: National superintendent of franchise for the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union from 1886 to 1892

Mind you, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union did support Women’s suffrage as part of its political agenda.  They wanted women to have the right to vote and to ban drinking. The alcohol lobby thought if the government franchised women, they would make alcohol sales illegal (like with the 18th amendment.) The alcohol lobby raised $1,000,000 (or $22,738,815.39 by today’s standards) for an anti-suffrage campaign in Kansas alone. Obviously the alcohol lobby on both counts, given the 18th and 19th amendments. 

Obviously, in the last 80 years, the parts of women’s movement has embraced alcohol as a right, while others view it as a tool for female oppression.

This is just an interesting historical perspective. The next time you go out to a bar, to a restaurant, to a liquor store, look around. See the number of women who are present. We have the right to drink. Happily, they are no longer property. They have a right to vote, a right not to be physically or sexually assaulted, and have a right to alcohol.

In this United States, those views were incompatible for generations of women. Just something to think about.

Happy Women’s History Month!

As always, happy and safe drinking.