Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey Brainstuff, Lauren
Speaker 1: Vogelbaum here. The Martini glass is one of the most
Speaker 1: iconic designs in barware, and maybe one of the most
Speaker 1: iconic designs of anything ever. Its sloped sides, wide rim,
Speaker 1: spindley stem, and round base are immediately recognizable. Of course,
Speaker 1: you can drink anything at all out of it if
Speaker 1: you want to, and hey note here, please drink responsibly.
Speaker 1: But for almost a hundred years, the proper cocktail to
Speaker 1: servant it has been the Martini. That's actually forty years
Speaker 1: into the Martini cocktail's history. The drink predates the glass.
Speaker 1: The Martini cocktail has been around in various forms since
Speaker 1: at least the eighteen eighties, although the circumstances of its
Speaker 1: invention are murky. There are at least four competing origin
Speaker 1: stories about the name and ingredients that is, a combination
Speaker 1: of gin and vermouth with or without other stuff like
Speaker 1: a splash of orange bitters or olive brine, or a
Speaker 1: garnish like an olive or a twist of lemon zest.
Speaker 1: A story published in the New York Times in nineteen
Speaker 1: o four claimed that a local judge by the name
Speaker 1: of Randolph Martin came up with the drink. Another story
Speaker 1: goes that a gold miner in Martinez, California, asked a
Speaker 1: bartender for something special to celebrate a big find. The
Speaker 1: addition of the olive is sometimes attributed to a Syrian
Speaker 1: expat by the name of Martini who opened a bar
Speaker 1: in Paris and brought olives from home, though it's perhaps
Speaker 1: most likely that multiple people were independently making and refining
Speaker 1: similar cocktails around the same time, and the name comes
Speaker 1: from the popular Italian vermouth brand Martini and Rossi. The
Speaker 1: Martini glass, on the other hand, comes solidly from the
Speaker 1: nineteen twenties and the height of the Deco movement. It
Speaker 1: may have made its debut at the nineteen twenty five
Speaker 1: International Exhibition in Paris. Art Deco was the theme of
Speaker 1: the expo that year. The Martini glass was a sort
Speaker 1: of update to the Champagne coup, which has a similar
Speaker 1: rounded base and delicate stem, but a perhaps more forgiving,
Speaker 1: shallow rounded bowl. Martinis and other cocktails like it were
Speaker 1: served in Coup's for decades before the new angular glass
Speaker 1: arrived on the scene, but by the nineteen thirties this
Speaker 1: new glass design was firmly associated with the Martini cocktail,
Speaker 1: a clean design for a clean drink. The Martini's simplicity
Speaker 1: and its glasses design made it a symbol of the
Speaker 1: modern American urbanite. By the nineteen forties and fifties, with
Speaker 1: the rise of mid century modern design, the lip of
Speaker 1: the Martini glass would grow wider and the stem longer,
Speaker 1: and through industrialization, this glassware became available for home use
Speaker 1: by the middle class. The Martini and its glass, partially
Speaker 1: through the enthusiasm of folks like Franklin Roosevelt, became symbols
Speaker 1: of power and modernity. Another New York Times article from
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight called it the symbol of our civilization,
Speaker 1: and the nineteen fifties, by the way, is when vodka
Speaker 1: entered the Martini picture. It had probably made its way
Speaker 1: into the cocktail before then, but the fifties were when
Speaker 1: the popularity of vodka skyrocketed in the US, and by
Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies vodka martinis had started to outsell gin martinis. Anyway,
Speaker 1: the distinctive shape of the Martini glass truly serves one
Speaker 1: purpose to look amazing. There are some side benefits of
Speaker 1: this good looking glass, though, The stem is longer than
Speaker 1: you'll find on most coops or wine glasses, which keeps
Speaker 1: the heat of your hand far away from the drink itself.
Speaker 1: This is important because they're shaken or stirred with ice.
Speaker 1: Martinis are served straight up, that is, with no ice
Speaker 1: in the glass, so keeping the heat of your hand
Speaker 1: away from the drink will help it stay colder longer.
Speaker 1: A side note here, people like to argue about whether
Speaker 1: it's more appropriate to shake or stir a martini with
Speaker 1: ice in order to chill it, probably because of that
Speaker 1: James Bond line which first appeared in Doctor No In
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight. A medium dry martini lemon peel, shaken,
Speaker 1: not stir vodka. Of course, scientifically speaking, the act of
Speaker 1: shaking ice with gin or a good vermouth can water
Speaker 1: them down too much, break up the silky texture, and
Speaker 1: make some of the delicate aroma and flavor molecules start
Speaker 1: to dissipate before you get a chance to enjoy them.
Speaker 1: No less than mit researchers have stated that, according to science,
Speaker 1: the best way to mix a gin martini is by stirring.
Speaker 1: But back to that glass. The wide open of a
Speaker 1: martini glass also allows more of the drink to come
Speaker 1: into contact with the air so it can breathe, allowing
Speaker 1: those flavors to open up and reach your face. Many
Speaker 1: other cocktail and wine glasses curve in at the rim
Speaker 1: at least a little, reducing that effect. There's also a
Speaker 1: rumor floating that back during prohibition it was easier to
Speaker 1: toss the contents of a Martini glass during raids on speakeasies.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure whether that holds up scientifically, but for sure,
Speaker 1: the propensity of Martini glasses to lead to accidental spills
Speaker 1: is one reason why they've fallen somewhat out of favor
Speaker 1: with bartenders. Beautiful though, these glasses. Maybe. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article the straight up History of the
Speaker 1: iconic Martini Glass on Howstuffwork dot Com, written by Kristen
Speaker 1: hall Geisler. To learn more about the Martini cocktail, check
Speaker 1: out my other podcast Savor. We did a whole episode
Speaker 1: called Cocktail Out the Martini and Brainstuff is producted by
Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com, who is
Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Klang. Before more podcasts from my heart Radio,
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