This hotel bar claims to have invented the martini - look inside
Sarah Jacobs
Competing stories surrounding the martini's origin come from both the East and West Coast of the US. Despite the cocktail's recipe being documented in the 1880s in Harry Johnson's "Bartender's Manual" (the first guide to the bartending trade), there's still some debate as to where it came from.
Its West Coast origins involve stories of gold miners going to the bar after striking it rich. On the East Coast, however, its rumored origin story takes place in the heart of New York City and involves the wealthy Astor and Rockefeller families.
The storied birthplace of the martini is The Knickerbocker Hotel, which was opened by John Jacob Astor IV in 1906, in New York City's Times Square. Back then, rooms averaged around $3.25 per night, and writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and George M. Cohan were frequent guests.
Sarah Jacobs
It was Rockefeller who was supposedly served an eponymous cocktail by then-bartender Martini di Arma di Taggia. Made with gin, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, citrus bitters, orange bitters, and garnished with a lemon twist, the original martini recipe is still served at the new bar inside the recently reopened and landmarked Knickerbocker Hotel today.
Sarah Jacobs
While Astor died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the Knickerbocker Hotel didn't close until 1921, and the building went through several renovations, including a stint as the Newsweek Building in the '40s and '50s.
The hotel reopened as the Knickerbocker Hotel in 2015, after a $250 million renovation, according to a spokesperson.
- In second consecutive week of decline, forex kitty drops $2.28 bn to $640.33 bn
- SBI Life Q4 profit rises 4% to ₹811 crore
- IMD predicts severe heatwave conditions over East, South Peninsular India for next five days
- COVID lockdown-related school disruptions will continue to worsen students’ exam results into the 2030s: study
- India legend Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 ambassador
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market