El Martinez

I'm heavy into gin cocktails at the moment, but I had an itch to try something a bit different (and to make use of the sweet vermouth lingering in our fridge, as the weather hasn't been conducive to the Manhattans and Negronis it was purchased for). After some Googling I came across the Martinez, a predecessor to the Martini, and as good a cocktail as any to celebrate R's new-found American citizenship!

(Fun story: growing up my parents always treated us like adults, meaning we had wine with dinner before we were technically 21 and were used to enjoying the same when we were out. Since I always looked older than I was, although hopefully not now—eek!, this was never a problem. But when I actually did turn 21 I went to a restaurant called Zocalo in Charlottesville for dinner with a friend. We were early for our reservation, so I went to the bar and ordered a Martini—a proper one, mind you, with Gin. I was immediately carded. Apparently the idea of someone ordering anything but a vodka martini was suspect).

Point being—I like the crisp, herbaceous-ness of gin, so I like to leave it as pure as possible. The original Martinez recipe calls for a 2:1 ratio of sweet vermouth to gin, plus liquid from a jar of Maraschino cherries (which is full of all sorts of chemicals, much like the new Campari), the combination of which, if you know me by now, you'll see is just much too sweet (and foul!) for my tastes.

So, here's my version of the Martinez, which lets the gin shine:  

For 1 El Martinez, my way (i.e., not too sweet)
2 ounces gin (Bluecoat American Dry Gin)
1/2 an ounce sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica Formula)
1 dash bitters (Gran Classico Bitter)

Mix and serve over ice.