About the Martinez cocktail
The Martinez is a classic gin cocktail made with gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and bitters. It is sweet, herbal, and lightly fruity, with the maraschino adding subtle cherry-almond complexity and the gin giving the drink a brighter, more botanical backbone than a Manhattan.
The Martinez is often described as a missing link between the Manhattan and the Martini. An 1884 drink guide by O.H. Byron described a Martinez as essentially a Manhattan with gin substituted for whiskey, while later recipes helped the drink evolve toward both the sweeter Martinez and the drier Martini. Sitting between those two iconic cocktails, the Martinez remains one of the most important stirred classics in cocktail history.
