What came first: The Martini or the Martinez?
If you dig into the history there are a few different legends surrounding the origin of the Martinez, mostly from the San Francisco area in the mid-late 1800s. It definitely appeared around that time, since it’s in the 1862 Bon Viviants guide. The question is, did the drink come from Martinez, CA, or from some other crafty bartender looking for a good name for a cocktail? In either case, I made this one a little different, substituting in Punt E Mes for regular vermouth, and changing up the bitters for some ginger flavor.
For many of my drinks I use Crude bitters, from Raleigh NC. They’ve been around for about 4 years now, and they offer an awesome lineup of craft bitters. I’m a big fan of theirs, and haven’t been disappointed by any of the bitters that I’ve tried. When I’m in the mood for something more than Angostura, Peychaud’s, or orange bitters I take a look at what Crude bitters I have lying around and can usually find something that brings an extra pop out of whatever cocktail I’m working on.
I love “Pooter”. No, seriously, I do. Stop laughing.
Back to the Martinez, without further ado, here are the ingredients:
- 2 oz Durham Distillery Conniption Navy Strength gin
- 1/2 oz Punt E Mes
- 1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino
- 2 dashes Crude “Ginger No. 2” ginger and tumeric aromatic bitters
- Garnished with a lemon peel.
Tell me what you think, is Punt E Mes too strong for a Martinez? Does it take over the flavors and cancel out the maraschino, etc.?
