HISTORY IF THE Martini

Alongside our recent obsession with artisan ally crafted food lies a similar agenda pertaining to alcohol and cocktails. Bespectacled, waistcoated “mixologists” muddle and mash their concoctions, creating original recipes with items like molé-infused bitters and baconflavored bourbon. No matter how much Earl Grey syrup and hibiscus are swizzled into coupe glasses, though, there are some cocktails that cannot and will not ever go out of style.

The Martini, with its basic ingredients and air of refined panache, is one drink that cannot be outshone by the latest trends. From James Bond’s widely recognized “shaken not stirred” endorsement to Ernest Hemingway’s pronouncement in

A Farewell to Arms, “I’ve never tasted anything so cool and clean ... They make me feel civilized,” this gin-based beverage has been and will continue to be an iconic stalwart in the cocktail lexicon.

Like the dirtiest of Martinis, the history of this American drink is more than slightly murky. One prevalent theory begins with a cocktail called the Martinez served sometime in the early 1860s at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, which people frequented before taking an evening ferry to the nearby town of Martinez, California. However, this theory isn’t unanimously accepted. In his 1907 bartenders’ guide The World’s Drinks And How To Mix Them, San Francisco mixologist William Boothby provided possibly the earliest recipe for a “Dry Martini Cocktail” not only resembling a modern day Martini in the ingredients, but also under that name.

The popularity of the Martini never seems to wane, and it was particularly de rigeur during the 1950s and 1960s, when the “three martini lunch” was a widespread practice for cosmopolitan executives and businesspeople. Our societal stance on daytime drinking (not to mention standards of productivity and workplace culture) have changed somewhat since the Mad Men era, and these days the Martini is more commonly consumed in the evening hours ... at least on weekdays.

A traditional Martini contains gin and dry vermouth served extremely cold with a green olive or lemon garnish -- and any additional ingredients from the earliest version were quickly abandoned. In the Martini’s earliest incarnation, the ratio of gin to vermouth was 1:1, but the amount of gin has steadily increased over the years. These days, the ratios are approached with much subjectivity, and vary according to personal taste. A “dry” Martini contains less vermouth, while a “dirty” one includes dashes of olive brine. When vodka replaces the gin, it’s known as a “kangaroo,” and a “Gibson” swaps the olive for a cocktail onion. James Bond favors the “Vesper,” always shaken, making it colder and more diluted than simply stirring. It also gives the Martini a slightly clouded appearance, leaving small shards of ice on the surface of the drink.

The practice of attaching the suffix “tini” to a number of cocktails is all too pervasive, particularly among fruity, sweet drinks like “appletinis,” “lycheetinis,” and even the cloying “mochatini.” Many of these drinks have little to do with the original cocktail, but are thus named because of their use of the V-shaped glass, often thought of as a Martini glass.

Two Las Vegas originals include the Cable Car and the Atomic.

An invention from renowned veteran bartender Tony Abouganim is the Cable Car. This twist on the classic Parisian Sidecar uses spiced rum instead of Cognac. Abou-ganim concocted this drink when he worked at the Bellagio’s Petrossian Bar. Today, the Cable Car continues to occupy the menu at the resort’s lobby bar and well worth the stop.

The Atomic cocktail is a champagne cocktail that was popularized by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and casinos such as the Flamingo in the 1950s when Las Vegas was known as the “Atomic City.” Such cocktails were perhaps most famously served in the panoramic Sky Room of the Desert Inn

(where the Wynn & Encore are currently located), which had the highest view in the city at the time.

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