Drinking Culture

San Francisco Bay claims to be the birthplace of the Martini. The path there runs through the Martinez, an early forerunner cocktail. Legend tells of a bartender named Julio Richelieu in the town of Martinez, northeast of Oakland. In 1874, he supposedly mixed a special drink for a gold miner with full pockets and named it after the town. This story is unverified, however. A commemorative plaque in Martinez still marks the occasion today. Cocktail historians tend to regard it as folklore rather than fact.

The Martinez first appears in writing in 1884, in a recipe booklet by O. H. Byron. There it's simply described as 'a Manhattan with gin instead of whiskey'. It then turns up in 1887 in Jerry Thomas's influential Bartender's Guide. Classically mixed with Old Tom gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and bitters, it's noticeably sweeter and heavier than the Martini it later evolved into.

In San Francisco's bars themselves, no strict ceremony has developed around this, more a casual pride in how the drink is handled. Many of the city's cocktail menus list the Martinez alongside the Martini as a drink in its own right. A brief note on the old origin legend often accompanies it. It's served, like the Martini, chilled in a stemmed cocktail glass, with no ice at all, so it doesn't dilute while being drunk.

Those looking for something simpler drink a straightforward Gin and Tonic in the region, especially on warm afternoons by the water. One of the local gins, such as Junípero or St. George Spirits' Botanivore, is often used. It's served simply, in a plain highball glass, with no fuss, while the cool evening fog slowly drifts in over the bay outside.