This story is part of a partnership between “City Lights” / WABE” and Rough Draft Atlanta called “The Beverage Beat with Beth McKibben.” As a “City Lights” contributor, McKibben joins the program monthly to highlight her most recent Rough Draft story on Atlanta’s cocktail, wine, coffee, and non-alcoholic beverage scene.  

Few cocktails conjure images of sexy sophistication more than the Martini. 

Movie legends from the Golden Age of Hollywood like Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, and Rosalind Russell often sipped Martinis in their films. 

Members of the Rat Pack loved a good Martini. Dean Martin beefed up his Martini with a little sherry. 

The Vesper – a Martini riff – was a frequent companion for suave British secret agent James Bond.

Bars have given the Martini top billing, fashioning the entire menu around the classic cocktail.

But why has the Martini endured for over a century while other cocktails burned brightly for a hot minute before flaming out and fading into history?

The Martini isn’t a dormant drink hidden within the pages of vintage cocktail books occasionally yanked from obscurity by curious bartenders looking to revive a once familiar tipple of yesteryear. 

The Martini is never really out of fashion, but it’s having a moment at cocktail bars around the country, including in Atlanta.

The Martini has staying power

The Martini tethered itself firmly to the bar decades ago, birthing myriad variations on the cocktail and creating a legion of connoisseurs loyal to the drink and their particular recipe for making it. The Martini doesn’t have to be on the menu. It simply exists, and most bartenders can easily stir one up when asked. 

Kimball House beverage director and partner Miles Macquarrie said that many bartenders embraced the Martini at the beginning of the cocktail renaissance in the early 2000s. Just as many bartenders dismissed the Martini, he said, likely because it wasn’t as exciting to make as the more ingredient-heavy cocktails of the day. 

The Martini has been the house cocktail at Kimball House since the restaurant opened in Decatur 11 years ago. But patrons of the restaurant, with its critically acclaimed bar program, weren’t always on board with the Martini as the signature drink at Kimball House. 

“The Martini is an American icon in liquid form. It’s always been the muse of the Kimball House bar,” Macquarrie said. “We were criticized for it on occasion in the early days of Kimball House. Some folks would say ‘this is too boozy for a signature drink. It should be more refreshing.’ I’m glad we stuck to our guns.”

The brand of gin used to make the Kimball House Martini is the only ingredient to change in the recipe over the years.

At Kimball House, the namesake Martini mixes locally produced Murrell’s Row GinGin, French vermouth, cocchi americano, and orange bitters. The cocktail comes with the option to garnish with a lemon peel or house-brined olives. 

Macquarrie said the Martini is a great general aperitif, pairing particularly well with oysters. It can help prep the palate before a meal as a strong but complex, low-sugar cocktail. 

The classic Martini recipe

In its purest form, the Martini calls for two to three ounces of gin and a half ounce to one ounce of dry vermouth – and maybe a dash or two of orange bitters. The earliest recipes for the dry Martini called for bitters, which help brighten the cocktail and bring out the botanicals in the gin. Bitters give the Martini more depth. 

Stirred in a mixing glass full of ice for around 30 seconds, the cold mixture is then strained and poured into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished with a lemon peel.

Some people prefer their Martinis wetter, with more vermouth or equal ounces of gin and vermouth, as called for in the 50/50. Bitters are necessary for the 50/50 to provide zest and balance to the cocktail. Reversing the Martini’s gin to vermouth ratio or equalizing the proportions also makes it a lower alcohol drink.

Then there’s the savory dirty Martini, a cloudy mixture of gin or vodka, dry vermouth, and olive brine garnished with olives. Like the dry Martini, how dirty Martini drinkers prefer this variation comes down to personal taste, such as ordering a dirty Martini filthy by dialing up the olive brine. 

In a recent story for the Wall Street Journal, award-winning cocktail writer and author Robert Simonson noted one other ingredient necessary to the Martini: temperature.

“All cocktails must be cold to be good. But no cocktail depends so much on frigid conditions as the Martini,” Simonson wrote. Adding extra ingredients to the drink, including olives and olive brine, can bump up the temperature just enough to change the taste and texture. 

Simonson keeps his gin in the freezer and his vermouth in the fridge. He recommends putting your Martini glass in the freezer for 30 minutes, only removing the glass right before pouring the cocktail. 

Debatable origin

As with most classic cocktails dating from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the Martini’s origin story is up for debate. 

Some believe a bartender at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City created the Martini in 1911, derived from an earlier cocktail, the Martinez, made with Old Tom Gin (or Dutch genever), sweet vermouth, curaçao, and orange bitters. Possibly invented in San Francisco in the late-19th century, the Martinez provided miners headed to the town of the same name a little boost before traveling.

Bartender Harry Johnson included a version of the Martini in his 1888 cocktail book the “Bartender Manual”, calling for Old Tom Gin, sweet vermouth, orange curaçao, gum, bitters, and a lemon twist.

There’s a theory that the Martini was a rebranding of the Marguerite, which called for Plymouth gin and French vermouth. 

Another theory leans into a marketing campaign and the emergence of London dry gin in the late 19th century. The drink featured London dry gin and Martini & Rossi vermouth. 

Most cocktail historians and experts believe the Martini’s origins date to the late-19th-century – a foundational classic that gave rise to other popular cocktails, including the Vesper, Gimlet, and the Gibson.

Where to head for Martinis around Atlanta

Beyond Kimball House, Talat Market in Summerhill features a Super Cold Martini mixing vodka and London dry gin with contratto bianco vermouth, madeira, and pear eau de vie. The restaurant also serves a $7 mini tini or a snack-sized version of the Super Cold Martini that’s half the price and the alcohol.

Lucian Books and Wine in Buckhead serves an elegant take on the Martini featuring Beefeater London dry gin, two Italian vermouths – a bianco and an extra dry – a dash of orange bitters, and a lemon peel.

“We started working on the recipe a week or so before we opened in 2021 and, luckily, we nailed it on the second try,” Lucian sommelier and co-owner Jordan Smelt said. “The reason why it’s a good Martini is due to the quality and freshness of the two vermouths.”

When making martinis at home, Smelt advises taking a sip from a newly opened bottle of vermouth to taste it at its freshest. Then store the vermouth in the fridge to keep it fresh for another month. 

Virginia-Highland steakhouse Highland Tap – locally known as steak cellar or steak basement – serves generous Martinis dry or dirty, with gin or vodka, and a side car of the base spirit to refill your drink. 

Capolinea Italian restaurant on the fourth floor of the Signia Hilton overlooking Mercedes-Benz Stadium includes a Martini cart rolling through the dining room. The cart offers four Martinis, complete with liquid nitrogen and a choice of garnish.

The restaurant’s namesake Martini comes with olive oil-washed vodka and gin, Italian vermouth, and a lemon twist. The gin-based Sicilian includes Marsala wine, vermouth and amaretto garnished with almond-stuffed olives.

Try the classic gin and dirty vodka Martinis at Lloyd’s Pizzeria and Lounge on DeKalb Avenue, the dirty Martini at Gigi’s Italian Restaurant in Candler Park, and the exceptionally boozy (and ice cold) Martinis at The Colonnade on Cheshire Bridge.

Order a Martini tree to share with the table at neighboring Cheshire Bridge Italian restaurant Nino’s. The metal cocktail glass holder, which may come seasonally decorated, makes it easier to carry up to eight Martinis at a time. 

As for newcomers to Atlanta’s Martini scene, check out the Martini at Gene’s in East Lake made with Murrell’s Row GinGin, Cap Corse Mattei Blanc quinaquina, dry vermouth, and smoked olives.

Looking for recipes to riff on the Martini at home? Consider purchasing Robert Simonson’s musings on the cocktail, “The Martini Cocktail: A Meditation on the World’s Greatest Drink, with Recipes.”