Such a simple a drink, yet it is so ingrained in culture. Over the course of the 20th century, the Martini became increasingly dry. Starting in the 1920s at a ratio of 2:1, gin to vermouth, 6:1 is now the norm. The ‘Montgomery’, named after the Field Marshal’s penchant for attacking only when in possession of great numerical superiority, is 15:1.
It wouldn’t be right to talk of breakfast without including tea, at least in passing. Not just any tea in this case but Earl Grey, that smoky brew, high in caffeine, that is flavoured with bergamot, a cold-pressed oil from the rind of bergamot orange fruit and originally gifted to the 2nd Earl of Grey by the Chinese.
By now everyone has heard the story of how it originated when a unnamed model asked for: “something to wake me up, then fuck me up.” Who it was, Dick Bradsell took to the great jump in the sky.
Although a century or more old, the Gin & It, the ‘It’ being sweet Italian red Vermouth, had its heyday, in Britain, as a pub standard, post WWII. Long out of fashion, its appeal declined inversely with the metaphoric rise in popularity of the Dry Martini, of which the Sweet Martini, as Gin & It was originally known, is said to be the forerunner.
Thanks to Nigel Eastmond, The Nosey Chef, trawling Fleming’s novels, Bond’s cocktail of choice can be precisely defined. How he was ever left even standing, let alone shooting and shagging, after a couple of those is beyond comprehension.
Surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel was a serious Martini aficionado. In the classic cocktail scene in ‘The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie’ we hear that “a classic cone-shaped glass is best” and that “a Dry Martini should be sipped like champagne.” Buñuel liked them very cold and he liked them very dry.
CGA’s Mixed Drinks Report for last year ranked it as the UK’s biggest selling cocktail yet again. There really is no accounting for taste. Revolution Bars alone sold 364,000 of them. That’s a lot of hen parties. Let’s hope they sell a lot of condoms too.
The Marmalade Martini saw the light of dawn in 1930 in The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock, an American who came to the UK to escape Prohibition. It became the quintessential cocktail book of the time and is still required reference for any contemporary bartender.