Origin
Its origins are somewhat debated, but there are several key theories about where and when the drink was first concocted.
Even if the Martini is considered a truly American drink, a rather unknown theory puts its origins in Europe. A German musician, John Paul Aegius Schwartgendorf, emigrated to France in 1758 and changed his name to Jean Paul Aegide Martini, in line with the vogue of Italian composers.
Apparently, his favorite drink was a mixture of gin and white wine, which became known among French musicians with Martini’s name. Some of these musicians may have emigrated to the United States, bringing the drink called a Martini with them.
​
But it is in the U.S., and specifically in California, where most of the myths and origins of the Martini take form.
​
One of the most frequently cited theories is that “Professor” Jerry Thomas, a famous and influential 19th century bartender, invented the drink at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, sometime in the late 1850s or early 1860s. As the story goes, a miner, about to set out on a journey to Martinez, California, put a gold nugget on the bar and asked Thomas to mix him up something special. Thomas produced a drink containing Old Tom (sweetened) gin, vermouth, bitters and Maraschino, and dubbed it the “Martinez” in honor of the customer’s destination.
​
A similar theory is supported by the citizens of Martinez, California, who nevertheless suggest that the miner’s journey took place in the opposite direction. Sometime around 1870, a miner stopped on his way to San Francisco at the saloon of Julio Richelieu in Martinez, and paid with a sack of gold nuggets for a bottle of whisky. The miner complained that this wasn’t quite enough for the amount of gold he had given, so the bartender made up the difference by mixing up a small drink of gin and sweet vermouth plus bitters and an olive, which was called the “Martinez Cocktail.”
​
What is important to keep in mind is that, even if the Martini derived from the Martinez, the cocktail evolved so much in the first decades of the 20th century that it sort of became something different. Remember that Old Tom was a sweetened gin, quite unlike the dry London gin of today, the vermouth was of the sweet variety, and the cherry liquor in the Thomas version further sweetened the drink. Some theories to explain the origin of the Martini base it on its name, giving less importance to its ancestor with the “Z”. But, why and when did the name change from Martinez to Martini?
​
Some connect the name “Martini” with the Italian vermouth company Martini and Rossi, which in 1871 shipped 100 cases of sweet vermouth to New York. This theory, which has often been dismissed because the shipping happened years after the creation and popularisation of the Martini, might connect with the moment when the name changed from “Martinez” to “Martini.”
​
An old cocktail recipe book, The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them, copyright 1907, gives the recipe for a Dry Martini Cocktail from a Los Angeles bartender (does not give name of bartender or location). Made with gin and dry French vermouth, served with lemon peel and an olive, this recipe includes two dashes of bitters but otherwise is similar to a modern Martini.
Some New York sources insist that a bartender at the Knickerbocker Hotel, named Martini di Arma di Taggia, invented the Martini in 1911 for America’s first billionaire, John B. Rockerfeller, co-founder of the Standard Oil Company. True or not, it seems to be the first time the Martini made its way to Wall Street and then Madison Avenue where the “three Martini lunch” (think Mad Men) was a standard among executives for decades. (By the way, Rockefeller’s Martini was made with London Dry Gin, dry vermouth, bitters, lemon peel and one olive.)
​
The first reference for a vodka Martini in the U.S. was in a cocktail recipe book in 1952, Bottoms Up by Ted Saucier.
​
Whether it sprang from San Francisco, Martinez, Los Angeles, or New York, the popularity of the Martini waned (along with all cocktails) in the wine- and spritzer-focused 1970s. But it regained prominence in the late 1980s when the newly-popular vodka, Absolut, abetted by a creative advertising campaign, replaced gin as the base spirit. The vodka Martini became the rage.