Shanghai Martini-Martinis with a twist

The bartender created a special drink for this occasion; one half ounce bourbon, one quarter ounce each sweet and dry Vermouth and a dash of bitters. She named the drink the Manhattan after the club. Both the drink and Jenny Jerome earned a place in history. She later became Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Sir Winston Churchill, one of England's most famous Prime Ministers.

The origin of the Martini

Ahh the Martini. No one knows where or when it was invented for sure. Some speculate that Professor Jerry Thomas invented a drink called the Martinez. The story goes, a gold miner stepped into Thomas' San Francisco bar on his way to the town of Martinez and asked him to shake up something special. The recipe called for one dash of bitters, two dashes of Marichino, one wine glass of vermouth, two lumps of ice and one pony of Old Tom Gin served with a quarter slice of lemon. Some say that the drinks' name came from the Martini Henry Rifle used by the British army between 1871 aand 1891, because both the rifle and the drink shared a strong kick.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest use of the word Martini as 1894 and it states the word came from Martini Rossi Vermouth.

The Manhattan fortunately has a documented history. When Samuel J. Tilden was elected Governor of New York in 1874, socialite Jenny Jerome threw a party at the Manhattan Club in New York to celebrate his victory.