San Martin
4.2 7 ratings
Ingredients
How to make
Serve in a coupe glass
Prepare
- 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
- 2 RIM glass with sugar rim (remove glass from freezer and dip into fine sugar).
Method
- 3 STIR all ingredients with ice.
- 4 STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish
- 5 No additional garnish. (The preprepared rim is garnish enough.)
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Flavour profile
19.8% alc./vol. · 1.1 standard drinks · 138 calories
History
Anisette distinguishes this mix of equal parts gin and dry, sweet vermouths.
This cocktail takes its name from Don José de San Martín (1778–1850), the Argentine general renowned as the "Libertador" of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. It first appeared around 1907 and is regarded as an Argentine adaptation of the Martini. The San Martin, like its namesake the Martini, underwent various transformations throughout the decades. The initial iterations of the San Martin typically featured old tom gin and rosso vermouth. An instance of this style is found in Benito Iglesias' 1911 publication, El Arte del Coctelero, which specifies drops of cherry brandy liqueur, maraschino liqueur, and orange bitters. The recipe is presented as: San Martín cocktail (En un vaso de refresco colóquese trozos de hielo cristalino.) Adjúntese: 1 gotas licor Cherry Brandy. 1 gotas licor Maraschino de Zara. 1 gotas Orange Bitters. 1/3 vasito Old Tom Gin Sumner. 1/3 vasito vermouth Cinzano. Mézclese suavemente y sírvase con una fruta de estación. Later, in his 1920s book Guía del coctelero, José Penedo, a bartender working at the Majestic Hotel Rosario in Argentina, details a recipe calling for ½ glass dry gin, ½ glass rosso vermouth, a dash of curaçao, and a dash of orange bitters: SAN MARTIN Úsese vaso de composiciones y póngase: Hielo. Un chorro de curacao. Un chorro de amargo naranja. 1/2 copa de Vermouth Torino. 1/2 copa de Dry Gin. Revúlvase, cuélese y sírvase en copa, adornándola con un gajo mandarina. However, a different approach is presented in Robert Vermeire's 1922 volume, Cocktails:- How to Mix Them. His recipe combines dry gin, rosso vermouth, and "1 teaspoonful of Yellow Chartreuse," explicitly stating "no Bitters of any description." The full recipe reads: San Martin Cocktail This well-known South American drink must be well shaken. It contain no Bitters of any description, but: 1/4 gill of Gin. 1/4 gill of Italian Vermouth. 1 teaspoonful of Yellow Chartreuse. A little lemon-peel is squeezed on top. In his 1930 work, The Savoy Cocktail Book, Harry Craddock introduced a misspelling of the cocktail's name, giving rise to the "Sand Martin." This variation persisted, appearing in subsequent books like Stanley M. Jones' 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide, which includes recipes for both this and a "Sand Martin." Craddock's rendition is: SAN MARTIIN Cocktail Glass Stir 3/4 oz gin 3/4 oz dry vermouth 3/4 oz sweet vermouth 1/4 oz anisette 1 dash bitters Sugar glass rim Note: Also see SAND MARTIN