Martinez No 2
Vermouth, aromatic bitters, maraschino brandy, loads of Hayman’s Old Tom Gin, all served with a slice of lemon.
Sometime around 1880 the glorious mixture of Gin and vermouth begins to gain popularity. It was named, and printed, as The Martine, The Martini, The Martinez, The Turf Club and even The Jockey Club. The early Martinis were mixed with Old Tom Gin, sweet vermouth and bitters. They were sometimes shaken with a piece of lemon, and sometimes stirred without.
Here we make Jerry “Professor” Thomas tipple from the edition of the 1887 Bon Vivant’s Companion. Legend has it that Thomas created it around 1860 at the Occidental Hotel, San Francisco, for a gold miner on their way to the town of Martinez. Unfortunately it is not included anywhere in the two earlier editions of the book, written shortly after Thomas was working in California. More likely is this recipe is the one that was making the rounds of New York’s classier bars at the time.
