Happy Hour: Martinez Cocktail

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• 1 dash orange bitters
• 2 dashes Maraschino liqueur

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist. I am out of lemons, so nixed the garnish, but I think it would definitely be a nice addition to this cocktail.

So, the Martinez…I found this on the back of the Hayman’s Old Tom Gin (recipes on liquor bottles are always a crapshoot). Initially, I guessed the name was a play on the martini, seeing as both are gin-based - but a quick search tells me that this is actually a predecessor to the martini.

Now that the history lesson is out of the way, let’s get to the flavors. While I was tossing all the ingredients into my shaker, I thought to myself, “This is going to be a mess.” I am a bit skeptical whenever sweet vermouth is added to any clear spirit. I don’t know why, but it weirds me out.

At first sip, the Martinez tastes very sweet. Then the orange arrives, sweet as candy and backed by the piney flavor of the gin. It develops to a bitter finish. To me, it tastes an awful lot like a negroni, but somehow I find the Martinez slightly more palatable.

Overall, not a bad little aperitivo before dinner!