Behind the Bar...The Martini

Dry or wet, or even dirty? Gin or vodka? Shaken or stirred? There are lots of variations to the classic martini, just as there are several claims to its origins:

• The Occidental Hotel bar in 1860s San Francisco served a cocktail called the Martinez, which travelers waiting to take the ferry to Martinez would drink. Not surprisingly, the town of Martinez claims that a town bartender created it. Around the same time...
• In 1863, an Italian vermouth maker began to sell their product as Martini (still selling, as Martini and Ross). An 1888 bartender's guide describes an established drink of equal parts vermouth and gin. However...
• A New York bartender at the Knickerbocker Hotel is credited with creating the modern, or dry, martini in 1911.

No matter. The Classic Martini:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz dry gin
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• ice
• twist of lemon, or an olive

Directions:

1. Chill a cocktail glass (otherwise known as the martini glass).
2. Combine gin and vermouth in a shaker, then fill halfway with ice. STIR.
3. After 20 seconds, strain into the glass, and garnish with the lemon.

Wet- add more vermouth. Dirty- add olive juice and the olive. Gibson- classic martini with cocktail onions. Vodka martini- otherwise known as the "kangaroo cocktail." Finally, shake only if you are James Bond. And you are not. Cheers!