A Martini by Any Other Name

A Martini by Any Other Name

BY Kelsey Sheppard

Martinis are a notoriously convoluted order for both guests and bartenders. Deeply personal, martinis are one of the easiest cocktails to get wrong - and it all comes down to communication. The guest needs to know what they truly want, and the bartender has to be seasoned enough to know what the guest wants despite what they may say. My mother, for instance, is intensely specific when she orders a martini. When it's right, it is so good. That being said, when she asks for a “light, light pink cosmopolitan,” what she really wants is for the bartender to whisper “cranberry” over the glass.

There are more than 15 ways to order a “traditional” martini. Technically, many cocktails we call martinis aren't martinis at all. Espresso martinis, cosmopolitans and lemon drops are descendants rather than the classic cocktail. An “extra dry” martini made without vermouth isn't technically a cocktail at all - it’s a glorified chilled shot in a fancy glass. The first martini recipes appeared in print in the 1880s. During Prohibition, recipes were altered to accommodate poor-quality liquor, including the “wet” martini, with more vermouth to soften harsh spirits. Olive brine long predates the phrase “dirty martini,” which caught on in the 1980s. Then came the appletini in the 1990s. And then there is James Bond. His famous preference for a vodka martini “shaken, not stirred” cemented the drink's place in popular culture. But perhaps that is the point.

The martini has survived more than a century because it is less a single drink than a conversation between the person ordering it and the person making it. A good bartender isn't simply taking an order - they're translating. When that translation is right, the result is more than a technically perfect cocktail. It's a drink that tastes exactly the way the guest imagined it. Even if, occasionally, all they really wanted was for you to whisper “cranberry” over the glass.