Tonight's Cocktail: The Gin&It
Way back in the day, dry (french) Vermouth hadn't really made it to the USA, but the Gin was still pretty rough and needed covering up. So the earliest Martinez was a red vermouth and gin martini. Update this to the 21st century and what you have is a softer Manhatten[1].
40ml Gin (quality, tonight's is Sipsmith),
20ml Martini Rosso,
dash of orange bitters,
dash of Maraschino,
Shaken and poured into a cold martini glass
Fairly hefty orange twist, flamed if you can do it.
[1]Make a Manhatten as normal. Instead of the cherry, make it dirty by adding a healthy dollop of the brine water from a jar of olives and you've got "A Sandy". Boom-tish! Gotta love that Brit bad taste humour. If you're stuck in post-Sandy chaos, we feel for you, but hope you can still larf.