亨利爵士金酒
故事由一個男人下班走進他最愛的酒吧開始......
他步入酒吧， 坐在他經常坐的那把皮沙發上， 靠著椅背想放鬆一下。 然後他做了一個深呼吸， 當他慢慢吐出那口氣時， 臉上隨之浮現出一抹笑容。 確實這是漫長的一天， 直到現在為止， 他還沒有用晚餐。 他感到自己有點餓了， 這種饑餓感讓他有很好的食欲， 此時他叫來了服務員。
“來一杯用亨利爵士金酒做的幹馬提尼， 加上一薄片的黃瓜， 謝謝。 ”男人說道。
片刻後， 他的馬提尼來了。 杯壁外面形成無數的水珠說明這杯酒已經很冰。 初嘗一口之後，
在世界上， 馬提尼的由來應該說是各類雞尾酒中最受爭議的。 我們所知道的是， 在19世紀前的最後20年間， 有一款著名的雞尾酒被發明， 它被叫做Martinez， 一般認為是“Martini”的鼻祖。 它的口味自然不像我們現在喝的幹馬提尼那樣， 它更像是加了糖的曼哈頓金酒。
在1887年曾經有一個著名的雞尾酒配方， 由金酒， 甜苦艾酒， 黑櫻桃利口酒還有比特酒組成。 配方來源於Jerry Thomas撰寫的著名書籍《調酒師指南》。 由於在這個配方中所用的是比干金酒更甜的老湯姆金酒， 加上配方中還列出可以加入2勺糖漿， 可以根據你的喜好加入， 所以這款金酒是相當的甜。
直到1904年， 第一款有幹苦艾酒的馬提尼配方才出現。
但是隨著資源的之間稀缺， 人們開始“私燒金酒”， 開始在浴缸裡面製作的低品質金酒， 而那些美妙的雞尾酒也就驟然消失。 那時雞尾酒是美國很受歡迎的飲品， 但是當在家裡無法享用著些高品質的雞尾酒之後， 饑渴的美國人到國外尋找辦法， 他們設立了諸如在哈瓦那的"La Floridita"和巴黎的"哈利的美國酒吧"等酒吧， 這些酒吧成為了雞尾酒走向世界的開始。
在14年之後， 禁酒令已經廢除， 人們終於可以在大庭廣眾之下合法飲酒， 這不免讓大家都歡呼雀躍，
然而如何正確製作這些雞尾酒飲品卻不被眾人所知。 一些資深行家， 比如英國前首相邱吉爾， 文學名家海明威和好萊塢巨星亨弗萊•鮑嘉， 他們都是幹馬提尼和其它雞尾酒的領軍人物。 邱吉爾喜歡非常幹的馬提尼， 他曾說過：“我的馬提尼只要金酒不要苦艾”。 對此， 他在雞尾酒中加入了大量的金酒， 不放一點苦艾酒在其中。 同時， 在上世紀中期的一段時間內， 人們甚至開始用伏特加來製作幹馬提尼雞尾酒！
很慶倖的是這個現象改變了， 如今優秀的調酒師都已經瞭解， 要製作出我們鍾愛和珍惜的馬提尼雞尾酒， 就一定需要高品質的金酒和合適分量的苦艾酒相配合。
男人的思緒又再次從馬提尼的故事中回到現實，
他高聲叫到：“再來一杯亨利爵士的馬提尼， 謝謝！”
The Martini, cocktail of all cocktails
A man walks into his favorite bar, sits down in his usual leather coach, leans back and takes a deep breath. He breathes out with a smile on his face. It has been a long day and he has not yet had his dinner. He is hungry but to even further entice his palate he calls the waiter over.
- A dry martini, Hendrick’s please, with a thin slice of cucumber.
His martini arrives, drops of water forming on the outside of the glass indicating it is well chilled. First sip and his thoughts dwell back to where this marvelous drink actually comes from.
The origin of this drink has arguably been debated more than any other cocktail in the world. What we do know is that there was a cocktail created in the last two decades of the 1800s called the Martinez. It certainly didn't taste like the dry martinis we drink today; it was more like a sweetened Gin Manhattan. One famous recipe from 1887 consisted of gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur and bitters. This recipe is from Jerry Thomas famous book "The Bar-Tenders Guide". Considering the fact that the gin used was Old Tom Gin which is sweeter than dry gin and an optional 2 dashes of gum syrup is listed in the recipe, this cocktail was considerably sweet.
It was not until 1904 that the first recipe with dry vermouth appeared. The recipe contained equal parts of gin and dry vermouth as well as 3 dashes of orange bitters. During the first years of prohibition in America, that is the early 1920s, quality gin was still available but when those supplies ran out, cheap gin made in bathtubs often made their way into people's glasses and the quality of this wonderful cocktail plummeted. Upon till this time cocktails was an American libation but when quality drinks were hard to come by at home, thirsty Americans made their way abroad to establishments such as the bar "La Floridita" in Havana as well as "Harry’s American Bar" in Paris. These bars and many after them were the kick start to a global cocktail phenomenon.
14 years later and prohibition was repealed and people drew a sigh of relief since they now could imbibe their favourite concoctions legally. Exactly how to make these drinks was however not known to many so famous people like Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Ernest Hemingway and Humphrey Bogart to name a few were the guiding stars of dry martinis and other cocktails. Dry Martinis turned drier and drier; Churchill took it to the point as to pouring a very large measure of gin, adding a nod to France instead of actually putting vermouth in his drink. For a few decades in the middle of the previous century, people even made dry martinis using vodka !
Luckily that changed and the fine bartenders of today acknowledge the utmost importance of using a high quality gin and a proper amount of vermouth in the martini making them the cocktail we love and cherish so much.
Back to the leather couch, here he sits, pondering over life's delightful peculiarities. The glass is nearly empty as he yet again leans back.
- Another Hendrick's Martini please!