Why Is It Called a Dry Martini?
If you walk into a bar this evening and ask for a "dry martini," the bartender will mix up a combination of gin and vermouth (generally much more gin than vermouth), pour the mixture over ice, shake or stir it, strain it into a martini glass, then garnish it with an olive. However, if you had asked for the same thing 100 years ago, you might have gotten a slightly different drink. Does this Spark an idea?
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1800s
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At the end of the 1800s, martinis were typically made with gin, orange bitters and red, sweet vermouth (Italian). They were simply called "martinis."
Early 1900s
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In the early 20th century, some martinis started to be referred to as "dry" if the bartender substituted dry, white vermouth (French) and eliminated the orange bitters. Thus, the word "dry" originally referred to the type of vermouth the drinker wanted used in his martini.
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Later 1900s
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Over the course of the 20th century, martinis stopped being made with sweet, red vermouth, and "dry" evolved to indicate the amount of white vermouth desired.
Current Meaning
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Today, a "dry martini" will have little to no vermouth added at all. Some bartenders joke that all you need is a "breath of vermouth" (a few drops) while a regular martini will still include around 1/2 an ounce.
Cocktail Purists
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Cocktail purists mock the idea that a "cocktail" can be a drink with just one ingredient. As a result, in their eyes "dry martinis" that include no vermouth are not really martinis; they're just glasses of gin. So make sure the next time you order a "dry martini" that it includes a little vermouth. You don't want the cocktail police to track you down.
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