Thelife- Martinis costing anywhere from $30 to $150 are popping up in places like New York and San Francisco.
- The maximalist martinis encapsulate the "loud luxury."
Martinis are having a moment — so, naturally, that means someone has to start charging exorbitant prices for them.
Enter: The $40 martini.
Recent stories from Eater SF and Punch have dug into the rise of "maximalist" martinis popping up in cities like San Francisco and New York at wildly high prices.
In Manhattan, there's a $45 Citrus Martini at Ilis and a $34 martini at Monkey Bar. Across the country, in San Francisco, you can find a $150 martini at Empress by Boon, and in Miami a $55 martini at Cote.
"The Martini is about minimalist perfection—there are few places to hide, no juices or spices to mask an unbalanced drink," Jaya Saxena wrote for Punch — so then, why is the souped-up, premium version catching on?
"Call it loud luxury," she wrote.
2023 was the year of "quiet luxury," a trend that generally refers to wearing fancy and expensive clothes that don't necessarily flaunt the fact that they are fancy and expensive. Think the $625 cashmere, logo-less black baseball cap worn by Kendall Roy on HBO's "Succession."
Loud luxury, in contrast, isn't afraid to show off.
It's a $6,950 rhinestone-encrusted mesh bag by Balenciaga, a $125 custom Hermes envelope, or a $520 leather belt with a big Gucci logo. It's not necessarily the logo that makes something loud luxury, but anything that stands out and signals "this is expensive."
The martini, turns out, was the perfect vehicle for the trend.
Head-turning martinis are the epitome of loud luxury
"This is the kind of cocktail that turns heads as it travels through the bar's glass-encased dining room and makes you feel exceptionally fancy as you take tiny sips of your drink and nibble on olives and truffle," Lauren Saria wrote for Eater SF, describing a $40 martini sold by Bar Sprezzatura that is made with truffle-infused vodka and served with a sidecar on a special tray with olives.
"It's a luxury, a boozy reprieve after a hard week, or a celebratory treat," she added.
Turns out most of these places aren't simply overcharging for a classic martini, which is typically made with just two simple ingredients: gin or sometimes vodka (gin is the correct answer, please and thank you) and vermouth.
Punch reported many of the pricy martinis were made with specialty ingredients or gins that go anywhere from $73 to $750 a bottle — meaning, they were actually luxurious, and they weren't afraid to own it.
The bar manager at Ilis told the outlet their Citrus Martini had about a 22% pour cost — the amount spent on ingredients relative to the drink's retail price — which is higher than the usual 15% to 20%. In other words, one could argue they were undercharging.
"I was hesitant to put a martini of that caliber and price range on the menu, but that was quickly quelled when I saw five ordered on opening night," the beverage director behind Bar Sprezzatura's martini told Punch, chalking it up to demand for "an indulgent showpiece."
Not only do the drinks draw eyes, but the menu obviously has the literal price spelled out for all to see, so you're also broadcasting to everyone exactly what you are willing to spend on a single cocktail.
Not sure spending can get much louder than that.