Have you ever wondered about the viability of time travel? Did Doc Brown's "flux capacitor" turn you on in a way that movie props generally don't? If you, like I, answered yes to these two questions, then you will be really excited about this post. While I will not take you back to 1985 Hill Valley, I will take you back to 2007 Tales of the Cocktail, the annual culinary & cocktail festival in New Orleans. From deep in the Tipsy Texan archives I found this un-posted post from last summer, which I am posting now because it involves the work of a world-renowned cocktail expert, and because the subject matter is still as pertinent as ever, for reasons that I will now explain:

At a bar downtown on a recent evening, I ordered a classic gin martini from the girl behind the bar, with whom I have had numerous discussions about the merits of the classic gin martini. She knew how I liked the drink, and proceeded to pour it. The manager of the bar, who was sitting right next to me and who is, incidentally, and good customer of mine, proceeded to instruct her, and me, that "That's not the way you make a martini! Your supposed to rinse the glass with vermouth and then dump it out!" Since the man is a business acquaintance and friend, and I am prone towards nonviolence, I decided to settle the matter academically and not physically. I spent the next fifteen minutes giving him an abbreviated version of the history of the martini, explaining how I in fact had ordered a proper one. I made sure to periodically sip my cocktail, so as not to let the potion become warm. When I got home I remembered that I had taken extensive notes from Mr. Hess's lecture, and that perhaps it was an appropriate time to make them available to the public, in the hope that at least one more soul, like this unfortunate restaurant manager, would be converted. Let the time travel begin:

Today we attended a seminar called "The Art of the Martini," given by cocktail historian Robert Hess of drinkboy.com.
The event was sponsored by Plymouth Gin and Fee Brothers which meant that we got one of our first great pieces of swag, a free shaker! It is in Robert’s favorite style, the “Parisian Shaker”—works like a boston shaker but both parts are metal. (The rest of these notes are more or less Mr. Hess's words, except for my notes in parentheses.)

The Martini has become extremely popular since the 1980s, though it began regaining popularity in the early Bond days.

Where did it come from?
Origins of the Martini: ca 1895
Prevailing theories:
The drink got its name from the Martinez Cocktail—the Manhattan (F) and the Martinez (M) are the parents of the martini. The Martinez is not really a martini. The Manhattan, like a black widow, mated with the Martinez, and the Martini is the offspring. Originally made with gin and sweet vermouth. Italian/Sweeet/Red vermouth was the original vermouth. In old cocktail books, if vermouth is not specified, it means sweet. Occasionally the Martinez had orange curacao or marashchino, but originally had equal parts sweet vermouth, old tom gin, and orange bitters.

There are also stories/myths that the drink got its name from the Martini rifle which, like the cocktail of the same name, had quite a "kick." The foundational myth that Hess believes holds the most water is that the drink was named after the eponymous vermouth of the The Martini & Rossi company. He warns that all of these stories are to be taken with a grain of salt. (The veracity of much of early cocktail history is at best difficult, and in many cases impossible, to determine.)

The Sweet Martini Cocktail needs to be rediscovered, as a wonderful example of a gin cocktail. It addresses all angles—the "Bond" image for men, sweetness for women, though it is not cloying.

Bars as a culinary institution: bars are the original chef’s table, where customers are watching not just their own drinks being made, but also everybody else’s drinks.

Regarding Martinis on the rocks: Originally all drinks were served up; in the latter half of 19th century ice drinks come into being. Ice makes martinis taste less boozy, as the water brings about balance. (In an article on his own website, Hess gives an excellent explanation of the importance of ice in cocktails in that they release needed water into the drink; and why storing booze in the freezer is stupid.) Why do Americans love ice, as opposed to Europeans? Perhaps because water was perceived as dangerous in Europe, as the continent became overpopulated. The American perception of ice is that it is pure and clean.

Prohibition: did a lot of really bad things for cocktails. It was a period of time where the general public, bartenders, and restaurants had a cocktail lobotomy. The drinks of prohibition were vile drinks. Bartending became illegal, as Prohibition was meant to be a forever thing. Some of the best left the country, and the rest went out of business.
After Prohibition, bars became coed. Prior to Prohibition the only women in bars were working, in one way or another. Many municipalities had laws on the books prohibiting women from going into bars. During Prohibition, bars became coed as speakeasy owners sought revenue from whoever would come--the idea was to make money as fast as possible. Because women were present, bars upscaled regarding atmosphere and décor.

Before Prohibition, most bars were not cocktail bars. They were like setup bars. Cocktails were primarily available only at the hotel bars.

The Dry Martini
The challenge is to find a ratio of gin to vermouth that suits your pallet. Originally the designation "Dry" was meant to denote Dry as opposed to Sweet vermouth. Now "Dry" is misunderstood to mean "less vermouth." The last 50 years has witnessed a significant decrease in the amount of vermouth in martinis, to the point that many bartenders either "swish and dump" or put no vermouth at all into their martinis.
A ration of 3:1 gives it great balance. 50/50, properly chilled, is also an excellent dry martini. It has bounce, does not slap you in the face with Christmas tree flavor. He says the chamomile-like quality of good vermouth balances out the juniper and pepper aspects of gin; water from ice tones down the heat from the alcohol.
Drinkers experiment to find their “tipping point”--the place where you can't tell the difference between where vermouth stops and gin begins.

Bitters are the most over-looked aspect of the martini. Bitters, by definition, are an essential ingredient in any cocktail.

Garnish
Originally was a cherry for the sweet martini; w/ dry the lemon twist and later the olive. (ca late 1800’s)
Modern maraschino cherries are product of prohibition; prior to prohibition, marasca cherries were soaked in maraschino liqueur.
(Later on Hess suggests that contemporary bartenders can update the martini without denigrating it. For example, use a piece of raw salmon as a garnish in a classic martini, incorporating leftover trimmings from the kitchen in this function.)

Dry vermouth comes out around time that (dry) London Gin comes out. Old Tom gin was previously dominant style. Disappeared 80-90 years ago. Sweetener was a masker of poor distillation from early days. With Plymouth Gin, a new style emerged without sweeteners. Advent of Dry Martini cocktail. Like Sweet Martini cocktail, sub dry gin, dry vermouth. Sometimes more vermouth than gin, lending validity to the M&R theory—ca 1906 M&R ran ads featuring the martini cocktail, though there were earlier mentions in print.

Vermouth poses a problem to martinis, because it is wine-based and it will spoil on counter. However it is aromatized and fortified, which menas it is shelf-stable. Though the need to refrigerate vermouth is not imperative, it is there. It will not spoil as fast as wine, but will lose freshness. Should be stored in Fridge. One of the reasons why there is public resistance to vermouth is likely that people have had experiences with "spoiled" vermouth that sat, opened, at the back the liquor cabinet for years on end.
The atomizer bottle is always a bad idea, because it is a tool of the "less vermouth is better" crowd.

The big change in martini happened after Prohibition...